EARLY SCENES
AND INCIDENTS IN
THE CHURCH. ^ ^
VOL. II.
By OLIVER COWDERY, in this number.
The Glory of God is Intelligence.
NO. 3.
IMPROVEM
ERA.
Organ of Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations.
PUBLISHED BY THE GENERAL BOARD
Heber J. Grant, j Business
Thos. Hull, j Managers.
JANUARY, 1899.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Manila, and the Part Taken by the Utah
Batteries in its Capture Majw Richard W. Young 161
Duty, a Poem 166
The Icelandic Republic and its Legal
System John Thorgeirson 167
Nature, A Poem Henry G. Bell 175
Oriental Religious Faiths IIL — Hinduism... Swami Vivekanander 176
Early Scenes and Incidents in the Church Oliver Cowdery 187
The Justification of Faith B. H. Roberts 194
The Morning Star, Sonnet Dr. Moore 201
Emperor William's Visit to Palestine Professor J. M. Tanner 202
Lives of the Apostles— Simon Peter Professor Willard Done 208
Gospel Studies Professor N. L. Nelson 217
The Past Year, a Poem Anon 222
Gifts of the Gospel John H. Davis 224
Winter Thoughts, a Poem Sarah E. Pearson 226
Editor's Table — Life Influencing Maxims —
Acts of Special Providence in Missionary
Experience— Modern Value of the Bible.. 227-231
Our Work— Get More Manuals — The Use of
Missionary Eras — Membership Permanent 232-235
Events of THE Month, : Thomas Hull,\ 236
See THE Mighty Angel Flying, Quartette... Stephens 240
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IMPROVEMENT ERA.
Vol. II. JANUARY, 1899. No. 3.
MANILA
AND THE PART TAKEN BY THE UTAH BATTERIES IN
ITS CAPTURE.
BY MAJOR RICHARD W. YOUNG.
I had formed in my mind a picture of Manila very different
from the original. The picture you are not interested in. The
city itself is extremely interesting. It fronts on the bay now
chiefly famous as the scene of Dewey's great victory, and stretches
back from the shore for several miles on both sides of the Pasig
river.
It contains several hundred thousand inhabitants, of whom
about 16,000 are Spanish soldiers, several thousand are Europeans
engaged in civil pursuits, many thousands are Chinese, and the
balance are natives. But do not jump at the conclusion that the
natives are worthless savages. Nearly all speak Spanish. They
furnish the clerks, tradesmen and artisans of the city. They read
and write. They are very cleanly in their attire, the men in their
suits of white, and the women in their picturesque and modest
costumes. The sound of guitars, harps and violins greets your ears
as you pass through their streets at night. Despite the enervating
162 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
influence of a tropical sun, they are ceaselessly energetic and
industrious. The men with sticks across their shoulder from the
ends of which depend great loads, and the little women with large,
round baskets on their heads, actually trot through the merciless
sunshine to and from their busy markets. The children are bright
and quick. Many already salute you with " Good morning," or
" How de do," pronounced with all the grandeur and politeness of
their erstwhile Spanish masters. In the evening, a company of
these black-headed, short-cropped, straight, quick, good natured,
bare footed, sometimes pantless, little fellows will march by in
military order with sticks for guns, carrying a United States and
insurgent flag, and performing military evolutions with surprising
accuracy. One cannot help becoming attached to these sunny
little boys and girls, so polite to the stranger and so forbearing in
their conduct with each other.
Around the city in all directions, forming its suburbs, are the
native districts. Many of the poorer natives still live in their na-
tive huts, constructed on stilts about five feet high, with floors of
split bamboo, well ventilated, walls and roofs of dried leaves, and
sliding doors and windows also of thatch. A fixed bench or so
along the wall constitutes all the furniture; a mat made of straw,
folded away during the day and spread on the bamboo floor at night,
furnishes bedding; a pottery receptacle for charcoal is their stove,
and the neighboring river their bath house and laundry. The women
bathe with a sort of Mother Hubbard, fastened around the body
under the arms, the men with a breech cloth, and the children
with — a playful spirit.
Passing through this fringe of native huts, you reach the very
picturesque wooden houses of the Spanish order of architecture-
overhanging roofs, overhanging upper stories, with great sliding
windows opening the whole side of the house, and lower stories with
strong doors, reserved for the servants or used as store rooms or
stables; all try to live above the malarial or otherwise dangerous
vapors that hover near the ground. Up the river are found the
splendid summer palaces of the governor-general, the palace of
Admiral Montojo and other public and private residences, having
one front on the shaded street and the other overlooking the pic-
turesque Pasig, down whose current are forever floating a species
MANILA. 163
of green plant resembling the lily in shape. At the mouth of the
river a long jetty has been thrown out on the north side and a
breakwater on the south. North of the stream is Binondo, the
business district. Along the water front are great warehouses,
and stretching back are many streets lined with busy places of
trade. The stores and shops are mostly kept by the Chinese and
natives, except on the Escalta, the chief street, where hotels,
jewelry stores, soap and perfume shops, tailoring establishments,
East Indian bazars, saloons, beer halls (with native string bands)
and what not, jostle each other in a profusion and magnificence
but little dreamed of by me. Why, the corner of the Escalta and
Calle Nueva, the street that leads to the bridge of Spain, is as busy
and crowded as Broadway at Fulton street. The street is fre-
quently jammed and the services of several officers are. constantly
required to keep the crossing passable. Below the bridge the river
is packed with steamers and all kinds of craft. Canals run all
over the city, and are used extensively in the commerce of the
place. Street cars, propelled by the small native horses, traverse
the principal streets. Great churches lift their picturesque fronts
on many a street and square, and on the Sabbath day they are
crowded by the devout natives in their clean and airy costumes.
Bells, mostly jangling and out of tune, ring forth at all hours of
the day.
But the most interesting portion of the city, Old Manila, I have
omitted to mention. It is a walled city of the middle ages in spirit,
though more modern in point of fact: walls twenty feet high with
crenelated tops, through the openings of which frown multitudinous
bronze cannons, mostly of another age. Behind the walls, a succes-
sion of casemates, the roofs of which furnish a broad rampart just
below the top of the walls; in front of the walls, moats crossed by
draw bridges, and capable of being filled with water on a moment's
notice; in front of the gates, outer works of defense; in the north-
west corner, the Citadel, the fort of San Sebastian, frowning high
over the entrance to the river with the vaulted dungeons below
even the level of the sea; the whole constructed strictly according
to the man who corresponds in the Art Militaire to Hoyle in —
well, in!
Within the city, barracks and barracks, great cathedrals and
164 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
churches, colleges and schools, monasteries and convents, palaces,
courts ecclesiastical, arsenals, etc. In this interesting portion
of the city are now confined the Spanish army captured by the
Americans— good enough looking fellows, but worn down by years
of fighting and jaundiced and invalided by the climate— now living
in churches or anywhere that refuge can be had— the victors hav-
ing occupied their barracks.
Of the rest of the country we know little and have seen less.
The situation has been such here, owing to the very strained rela-
tions between our own forces and those of Aguinaldo, that the
troops have been kept quite closely at home.
Of the doings of the Utah artillery there is probably no need
to say much. No doubt some of my comrades have written full
accounts of our part in the capture of Manila to our local news-
papers. In brief outline our record is as follows: The call for
troops— Utah's patriotic response in offering almost twice as many
as were required; the muster-in, May 9th; the early departure
for San Francisco; the embarkation for Manila, Battery A on the
Colon and Battery B, half on the China and half on the Zealandia',
the day at Honolulu; the visit to the Ladrones; the meeting of the
Boston, at the north end of Luzon, with news of the battle at
Santiago, and of the approach of Camara's fleet; the arrival, July
16th, at Cavite; the disembarkation, July 20th, at Camp Dewey—
the only dry ground in the midst of miles of flooded rice fields and
swamps, at a distance of two and one-quarter miles from the Span-
ish lines; the men compelled to carry their baggage, guns and
ammunition ashore through surf more than waist-deep; the recon-
noitering of the ground in front of us along the insurgent trenches,
which in spots had been pushed up close to the enemy's works;
the constant "ping" of the Spanish Mauser bullet and the occasional
crash and explosion of a shell during these expeditions; the puttmg,
July 29th, of two of Battery A's guns in two insurgent embrasures
not far from the beach; the failure of the revolutionists to hold
our right that and the succeeding night, and the splendid, but
missed, opportunity to drive our weak advanced lines into the sea;
the bringing forward of two of Battery B's guns, July 31st, and the
placing of them and the two guns of Battery A in new positions
about two hundred yards in front of our first position;,the vigorous
MANILA. 165
night attack of the Spanish with cannon and small arm, lasting for
two hours and forty minutes, on the night of the 31st, during which
our four guns fired nearly two hundred rounds mostly of shrapnel
at point blank range; the uncertainty in the darkness of the Span-
ish movements and intentions; the terror in the camp for fear that
the stories brought back by the first few stampeded soldiers were
correct and that the troops had been wiped out; the rushing for-
ward of reinforcements; the stretchers coming back with the dead
and wounded; the renewal of the attack nearly every night for a
week, the Utah troops being the only troops present in every
engagement; the extension of our lines to our right so as to include
in our front a strong Spanish block house known as No. 14; the
whole country flooded with rain, which fell almost incessantly, our
trenches being ditches and our guns standing in a foot of water;
the order for the combined naval and army attack, August 13th;
the construction of emplacements for all of our other guns and the
moving of both batteries forward on the 13th; the grand and
impressive moving out of Dewey's ships; the first gun from the
Olympia, followed by rapid firing from other ships and from our
own guns; the splendid marksmanship of our gunners, who, at one
thousand and fifty yards on the left Icnocked blocks from the solid
wall of Fort St. Anthony or sand bags from the earth-works near
by, at every shot, and who, on the right, destroyed block house No.
14 in a dozen shots; the attack of the infantry; the feeble response
of the enemy, driven out by the artillery fire; the raising of our flag
on St. Anthony at 11:10 a. m.; the vigorous scrap on the right of
the line — the complete capture; the surrender of the Spaniards,
including a company of palace guards, with medieval uniforms and
battle axes; the quartering of the American troops in Spanish
barracks and houses; the luck of the Utah troops in getting into a
commodious barrack; the praises of all of the work of the Utah
batteries; the general con'census of opinion that of all the troops
engaged none had done better nor so much work as our own organ-
izations; the arrival of the recruits; the occasional call to arms to
quell a rumored outbreak by the insurrectos; the hum-drum of
barrack life; the desire to get home; the uncertainty of the future
caused by the rumors that five thousand more soldiers and two
battle ships were on their way here — such is the story of our
IQQ IMPROVEMENT ERA.
service, told in headlines, as a newspaper man would say. The
record is an honorable and a prominent one.
No citizen of Utah need hesitate to investigate the part ot
the Utah boys in the campaign against Manila, nor will he have
occasion to blush when he learns it in detail.
DUTY.
SELECTED.
There's a pathway through life with a stern-sounding name,
And some tread it bravely to honor and fame,
And some tread it bravely wherever it goes.
Unmindful of thorns, in the hope of a rose.
And sometimes this path through the wilderness leads.
Where the foot of the wayfarer winces and bleeds.
And sometimes it climbs to the summits of snow.
While sunshine lies warm in the valleys below.
But this thing is certain— who follows the track
That Duty has marked for him, ne'er looking back,
Who takes to it, sticks to it, sunshine or shade,
Shall never regret him the choice he has made.
For, though it be stony and though it be steep,
It groweth a flower whoso findeth may keep.
And all who along it will faithfully wend.
Shall light on this flower ere they come to the end.
Its name is True Happiness; blest is the lot
Of him who fares on till he comes to the spot
Where, blushing, it greets him; his effort is crowned
With a flower that shall bloom for him all the year round.
THE ICELAND REPUBLIC AND ITS LEGAL
SYSTEM.
BY JOHN THORGEIRSON.
It is a well known fact that in Iceland was a regularly estab-
lished republican form of government, which existed from the
latter part of the ninth century to 1270 A. D. There are at
present several vellum manuscripts extant, which contain, at least
in part, the laws of Iceland as a republic. The most important
one of these is a book of tanned calf-skin called Konungsbok (the
King's Book), which is in the Royal Library of Denmark. It was
presented to King Frederik III, in the year 1656, by Brynjolf
Sveinson, who was then bishop of Iceland. The book is thirteen
and one-half inches long, nine and one-fourth inches broad, and has
one hundred and eighty-six pages.
According to the investigation of the most reliable antiqua-
rians it appears to have been written about the middle of the
thirteenth century. It is well preserved, and the leaves are yet
white and glossy.
Dr. William Finsen, one of the leading Icelandic archaeologists
and barristers, issued some time ago an accurate and critical edi-
tion of this valuable work. It is in two volumes and is divided
into fifteen parts or divisions. First is the ecclesiastical law, which
takes up eighteen pages of the vellum; second, rules of order,
which occupies forty-two pages; third, military and criminal law,
sixteen pages ; fourth, on weights and measures, comparative
value of gold, silver, etc., seven pages; fifth, the authority and
168 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
duties of the president, two pages; sixth, the power and duties of
congress {Althing), thirteen pages; seventh, laws of inheritance
and family rights, twelve pages; eighth, law regarding the pro-
viding for the poor and indigent, eleven pages; ninth, law regard-
ing engagements, marriages, etc., twenty-eight pages ; tenth,
regarding real estate, etc., thirty-three pages ; eleventh, on
rents, eleven pages; twelfth, on legal proceedings, etc., fourteen
pages; thirteenth, on the civil division of the land, four pages;
and fifteenth, on miscellaneous formulas and laws, consisting of
fifteen pages, which completes the vellum King's Book,
It was in the year 874 A. D. that Ingolf, the first settler in
Iceland, arrived, and during the sixty years following the emigration
was so heavy that it is regarded that at the end of that period
Iceland had as great a population as she has ever had, it being
estimated that about that time the inhabitants numbered no less
than one hundred and fifty thousand.
Prior to 927 the civil affairs of the land were in a very unset-
tled condition, yet judiciary districts had been established here
and there by those who resided in different localities. It was in
the year 924 that a man by the name of Ulfljot was selected and
sent to Norway, by the assistance of the best legal lights in that
country, to draft a brief code of laws for the purpose of estab-
lishing Iceland on a firm basis as an independent republic. Hav-
ing spent three years at this, Ulfljot came back. Then a man by
the name of Grimm was sent out to select a suitable place to
hold the national congress ; he chose the world-famous place,
Logberg, by the river Oxara, where the leading men of the land
met in a council in the summer of 927 A. D., and adopted the law
that Ulfljot brought, honoring him by unanimously electing him
the first president of the Icelandic Republic. How much of this
first law is preserved is unknown with the exception of the official
oath and a few other unimportant matters which are preserved in
the Sagas. The majority of the inhabitants were of the Asa faith.
The administration of the oath was as follows: The man who was
to take the oath was required to take two witnesses with him and
go up to the altar and there take a gold ring that must not weigh
less than two ounces, and was provided and placed on the altar for
that purpose. It had first to be dipped into the warm blood, of an ox
THE ICELAND REPUBLIC. 169
Putting it on his hand, he said, '1 call so and so as the first witness,
and so and so as the other witness, that I perform an oath by this
ring, a lawful oath, so help me Freyr, Njordur arid the almighty god,
that I will so prosecute, defend, testify or render judgment, as I
know to be the most right, the most truthful and in the nearest
conformity to the law. And to do according to law every and all
legal duties that will be required of me to do, while I am at this
court."
In connection with this I wish to explain that this almighty
god spoken of in the oath was Odin, and the other two were also
among the chiefest of the Norse— Icelandic gods. It is also worth
mentioning that in those heathen times, and according to the
heathen law, perjury, murder, and taking a woman by force,
were such gross crimes, that those committing them could not be
ransomed. Any man found guilty of any of those crimes forfeited
his life, and his property was confiscated by the state; a portion
of the property was however used to pay damages to the wronged
one, and the heirs of the guilty party lost all their natural rights.
At the session of the first national congress, a general as
well as local form of government was adopted for the whole land
but it was not till about A. D. 960 that the organization was com-
pleted, when the whole land was divided into thirty-nine chieftain-
ships. Three chieftainships formed one judicial district. Three
judicial districts formed one judicial quarter, except in the northern
quarter, where there were four. Each quarter was entitled to
twelve representatives to the national congress, each of them
selecting two counselors, whose duty it was to assist the repre-
sentatives. These counselors had the right to discuss and debate in
congress, but could not vote. The place where the assembly met
was in the open air. In the plain Thingvoll three benches were
^put up in a hollow square. On the middle bench the people's repre-
sentatives sat, while the two counselors of each sat one on the
front bench in the front of his master, and the other behind. Each
new law had to be read aloud before all present for three suc-
cessive years in congress {Althing), and if during that time no
successful objection was made thereto, it became a statutory law.
Any one present had a right to make objection to the new law
inymali), and any objection or anything of that kind must be taken
170 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
notice of no matter though the objector was not a member of
congress. The president of the Icelandic Republic presided in the
Althing like the vice-president of the United States does in the
senate. During the earlier years of the republic, it appears that
a two-thirds majority was required to carry a measure, but in
later years a majority was sufficient, no matter how small. The
place itself where the Althing (the national congress) met was
called Lawyard. The number of men that had a seat there were
forty-eight representatives, ninety-six counselors and the president.
But after A. D. 1000, when Christianity was lawfully established
as the national faith, the two bishops had their seat also, which
made the number altogether one hundred and forty-seven. Althing
met every year in the month of June, and was about two weeks,
or hardly that long, in a session. Going home, the representatives
and their counselors were required by law to hold meetings in
every specified locality, and read to the people all new laws and
amendments to laws that were passed at that session of Althing.
To more fully explain how the legislative system was worked
I shall have to cite the passing of a few important statutes. It
was but shortly after the establishment of the Althing that it was
noticed through the movements of the sun that a year of three
hundred and sixty-four days was too short. To regulate this a
man by the name of Thorstein Surt — it is not said whether he was
a member of congress or not — proposed to add one week to the
summer every seventh year, which was unanimously passed.
The most remarkable case of law making was in the year 1000,
when Christianity was established by law as the national religion.
It was during the session of the Althing the year before that
Hjalti Skeggason, one of the foremost men in the land, was found
guilty of blasphemy against the gods, due to some cause not
recorded. He said:
"To fear the gods I folly see —
Freya appears a wretch to me."
Freya was the goddess of marriage and one which was highly
adored; and for making such a remark about her he was exiled.
Hjalti went to Norway that fall and went to King Olaf Triggvason,
who was a very zealous Christian. Hjalti was baptized the next
THE ICELAND REPUBLIC. 171
spring into the Christian church, and was sent by King Olaf as a
missionary to Iceland.
Among the early settlers in Iceland were not a few who came
from the British Isles, who had been reared in the Christian faith.
But it appears that the majority of settlers were heathens, or rather
of the Asa faith. All those in authority seem to have belonged
to the latter class. Hjalti came to Thingvoll while Althing was in
session, and got permission to deliver a sermon at Logberg.
Every year a vast number of men and w^omen v/ere present during
the session of Althing, and this time was no exception. Hjalti's
sermon put a new life into those who had been reared in the
Christian faith, which caused them to rebel and secede from the
heathens, and elect a man by the name of Hall for their president.
He was a close relative to Duke Rollo, the founder of Normandy.
All the men were armed, but no fighting was done. On being elected
by the adherents to Christianity, President Hall called his people
together and required from their hands unlimited authority to act
in their behalf, and made them, by a most sacred oath, obligate
themselves to be satisfied with whatever he sav/ fit to do, regard-
ing this most important question. This being done, he went to the
real president, whose name was Thorgeir, and resigned his author-
ity to him. This being done, President Thorgeir w^ent to his booth
and forbid any one to disturb him for a day and a night. On the
morning of June 24th he called the people together, explaining to
them the great national difficulty that confronted them, saying,
among other things, "If we are not all governed by the same law
our peace, security and freedom are gone, for which our fathers
and mothers left their native lands, and came here to establish."
He reminded them that the disunion of the peoples of Norway,
Denmark, Sweden and England, paved the way for absolute mon-
archy and thraldom. "To avoid this, here in this land," he said,
"we must all be governed by the same law, and the same men. I
therefore, for the security of our freedom, national unity and inde-
pendence, advise that we adopt Christianity to be our national
faith, cease worshiping idols and offering sacrifices to them, and
we each and every one of us, young and old, men and women, be
baptized into the Christian faith."
Having before he began his speech secured the promise of
172 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
the assemblage to abide by his decision, and being sustained in
his opinion by the majority of the congressmen, as well as many
of the leading men of the land, Christianity was then and there
adopted by law, and mad« the national faith of the Icelandic
Republic. So much at the present in regard to the legislative
system. I shall now proceed to give a brief account of the judi-
cial one.
As before stated, about 960 A. D., the land was divided into
regular judicial districts; the chief divisions being four quarters,
respectively called the southern, western, northern, and eastern
quarters. Each quarter again was divided into three judicial
districts, except the northern one, which, due to geographical
condition and the wishes of its inhabitants, was divided into four;
each of those consisting of three chieftainships. One of the duties
of the chieftains was by and with the consent of the people of their
respective districts to select twelve jurors; the whole number
being according to law thirty-six. The verdict of a majority was
a legal decision. From those courts appeals could be made to the
quarter courts, where were also thirty-six jurors or domsnefud—
doom-namers— as they were called. The law also provided that a
preliminary hearing could be had in every locality; and to secure
which the party aggrieved had a right to call together, without
any previous notice, a committee of five, nine or twelve men in his
immediate neighborhood; a decision by whom, in many cases,
according to the law, could be final.
Besides those districts and quarter courts, it was also pro-
vided by law that at Thingvoll, where the national congress met,
four courts, also called quarter courts, were established, which
were both courts of appeal, and where such cases should be tried
when the parties to the suit resided in two or more judicial quar-
ters. ^ How the jurors for those courts were selected, and how
many it took to constitute the court is not agreed upon by those who
have written about the subject. Dr. Konrad Mauree says thirty-
six; Dr. William Finsen claims it was only nine. According to the
meagre account given in Kings Book and the Sagas, it seems that
thirty-six was the right number, nine from each quarter; and that
there were certain places and probably certain day^ appointed for
THE ICELAND REPUBLIC. 173
the different quarter courts to be held; but the same thirty-six men
served as jurors in all places and in all cases.
It was in the year 1005 that through the subtil ty and trickery
of the la\A7ers, several important cases could not be settled,
which came near causing bloodshed and anarchy. The greatest
barrister and legislator in the republic at that time was a man
named Nial Thorgeirson, who doubtless was one of the people's
representatives. When the Althing met the next summer, there
was a good deal of discontent among those who the year previous
could not get their rights because of the alleged defects of the
judicial system; and that discontent came near resulting in a
general uproar and lawlessness. Several of the more cool-headed
ones went to Nial to confer with him, and seek his advice, saying
that lawlessness would be unavoidable if some remedy could not
be provided. A great many did not lay their grievances before
the courts, saying it was useless, as the only way to settle one's
difficulties would be by force of arms. The account of this is
recorded in the 97th chapter of the Saga of Nial Thorgeirson, where
he is represented as saying of the proposition of resorting to
arms: "That must not be done, and it is unbecoming not to have
laws in the land. Yet you have considerable cause to be discon-
tented, and the responsibility is with us who know the law, and
are the makers thereof. Hence my advice is that w^e, the law-
makers, come together and see what can be done."
They then went to the law-yard. Nial addressed himself to
Skapti Thoroddson, who at that time was the president, and the
members of congress, saying: "I wish to call your attention to
the fact that our judiciary affairs are getting to be in a dreadful
shape; if we shall bring our cases into the quarter courts, and
through chicanery a decision is impossible, to me it seems the
best plan that a fifth court be established, where those cases that
can not be brought to a finish in the quarter courts, can be
heard, and a decision rendered."
Says Skapti: "How are you going to get officers to sit in
that court, seeing that already three dozen jurymen have been
selected out of each quarter of the land to sit in the quarter
courts?"
"I see how that can be done," says Nial, "select the best men
174 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
out of each quarter, allowing them to join any district that suits
them."
"That suits me," says Skapti, "but what cases are to be tried
at that court?"
"Disturbances and disorder at the law-yard shall be tried there.
All perjury and false charges. All the cases that cannot be
brought to an end in the quarter courts, and all bribes, whether
paid or received. In this court shall be all the strongest oaths,
and two men as vouchers to follow every oath who shall on their
honor guarantee the truthfulness of the swearer. Every case
shall be handled here as in the quarter courts, with the exception
that there shall be forty-eight jurors in the fifth court. Of those,
the plaintiff shall withdraw, or object to, six,and the defendant the
other six. If the defendant does not withdraw any, then the
prosecutor or plaintiff shall withdraw twelve; but if he does not
withdraw any, then the case shall be lost; as the number of the
jurors shall not be more than thirty-six. It shall belong to con-
gress to decide what is a law, as also to grant special privileges or
exceptions. But if a man who is personally interested in the case
there under consideration, regards his right infringed upon by
this granting of special privileges or exceptions, he shall have the
right to make a lawful objection before the congress, and then
such privilege or exception shall be void."
President Skapti Thoroddson then laid this proposition before
congress, and it was carried. This took place in the year 1006
A. D. In the fifth court, as vv^ell as in others, a simple majority
no matter how small, ruled. One of the chief causes that cases
could not be settled in the quarter courts, was a tie which some
lawyers and influential men caused by money and trickery.
According to law the plaintiff or prosecutor was first, the
person injured, then his or her nearest relatives; then the
chieftain (Godi) of the district where the person injured resided.
In the earliest part of the republic, women were lawful
prosecutors as well as men; but on one occasion in an important
suit where women were prosecutors, the prosecution was so weak,
that injustice prevailed. Next year it was made a law that
women should not be acknowledged legal prosecutors, but they
could select a man to represent their interest at law; but if they
THE ICELAND REPUBLIC. 175
did not avail themselves of these privileges, it was the duty of
the chieftain of that district where the wronged woman resided,
to see to it that her legal interest was duly represented. The
right for the parties to a suit, to settle it between themselves in
a friendly manner, was reserved by law except in case of murder,
perjury, rape, and suchlike crimes.
NATURE.
I heard a voice, as 'twere of one cast down
By bitter agony, — and thus he spake: —
"I do impeach thee, Nature! that thou hast
In causeless malice made me woe-begone.
Thou gavest mind to torture me; — the hopes,
By thee first taught to bloom, bloom'd but to fade;
The feelings that, like honey in the flower.
Imparted to my heart its fragrance, turn
To bitterness; — and, haply to keep pace
With this vile sinking of my nobler part.
My very energies of limb decay.
And sadder — feebler than my fellow-men —
I grope my way through life, — a friendless ghost.
That sits on graves, or stalks among the tombs.
Therefore, my voice is raised — I stand erect —
And ere I die, I do impeach thee, Nature."
He spoke, and there was silence. Then I heard
The merry voices of ten thousand birds
Who sang their morning paeans to the sun;
And through the forest glades the deer awoke,
And shook the dew drops from their antler'd brows;
And glorious flowers upon the mountain side
Drank in the day-light; and in silver streams
Gold-mantled fish went darting everywhere;
The mighty ocean murmur'd as a child
Its mother lulls to rest; the skies look'd down
In blue serenity, as if they smiled;—
And to the dark impeachment of that man
No other answer mighty Nature made.
Henry G. Bell.
ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS FAITHS.
III.
HINDUISM.
BY SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
(From the daily reports of the Parliament of Religions.)
The Hindus have received their religion through their revela-
tion, the Vedas. They hold that the Vedas are without beginning
and without end. It may sound ludicrous to speak of a book with-
out beginning or end. But by the Vedas no books are meant. They
mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual law discovered by differ-
ent persons in different times. Just as the law of gravitation
existed before its discovery, and would exist if all humanity forgot
it, so with the laws that govern the spiritual world. The moral,
ethical and spiritual relations between soul and souls and between
individual spirits and the Father of all spirits were there before
their discovery and would remain even if we forgot them.
The discoverers of these laws are called Rishis, and we honor
them as perfected beings, and I am glad to know that some of the
very best of them were women.
Here it may be said that the laws as laws may be without end,
but they must have had a beginning. The Vedas teach us that
creation is without beginning or end. Science has proved to us
that the sum total of the cosmic energy is the same throughout all.
Then if there was a time when nothing existed, where was all this
ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS FAITHS. 177
manifested energy? Some say it was in a potential form in God.
But then God is sometimes potential sometimes kinetic, which would
make him mutable, and everything mutable is a compound, and
everything compound must undergo that change which is called
destruction. Therefore God would die. Therefore there never
was a time when there was no creation. If I may be allowed to
apply a simile, creation and creator are two lives, without beginning
and without end, running parallel to each other, and God is power,
an ever-active providence, under whose power systems after sys-
tems are being evolved out of chaos— made to run for a time and
again destroyed. This is what the Hindu boy repeats every day
with his guru: "The sun and the moon, the Lord created after
other suns and moons." And this agrees with science.
Here I stand, and if I shut my eyes and try to conceive my
existence, I, I, I— what is the idea before me ? The idea of a body.
Am I, then, nothing but a combination of matter and material sub-
stances? The Vedas declare "No," I am a spirit living in a body
I am not the body. The body will die, but I will not die. Here am
I m this body, and when it will fail, still I will go on living, and
also I had a past. The soul was not created from nothing, for crea-
tion means a combination, and that means a certain future dissolu-
tion. If, then, the soul was created it must die. Therefore it
was not created. Some are born happy, enjoying perfect health,
beautiful body, mental vigor, and with all wants supplied. Others
are born miserable; some are without hands or feet, some idiots,
and only drag on a miserable existence. Why, if they are all
created, does a just and merciful God create one happy and the
other unhappy-why is he so partial? Nor would it mend matters
m the least by holding that those who are miserable in this life will
be perfect in a future. Why should a man be miserable here in
the reign of a just and merciful God? In the second place, it does
not give us any cause, but simply a cruel act of an all-powerful
being, and therefore unscientific. There must have been causes
then, to make a man miserable or happy before his birth, and those
were his past actions. Are not all the tendencies of the mind and
those of the body answered for by inherited aptitude from parents?
Here are the two parallel lines of existence-one that of the mind
the other that of matter. If matter and its transformation answer
IMPROVEMENT ERA.
ITo
spiritual monism is certamly logical ana n
neither of these is »— ^J^';- .^^^^, certain tendencies from
We cannot deny that bodies mne configuration,
heredity, but these t^^encies only mean the senlar c g^^
through which a peculiar ■»•"*/ Is in that sou" have been caused
The cause of t^^-e peculiar te— sin that -^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^
\"\^tirthra Cot wbI rs'lXt instrument of the dls-
and take birtti m a Doay wu .^ ^^ j._
play of that tendency y ^^;^ ^^^fj^Texplain everything by
have come down from past lives. ^
But there is another ^»Sg«=t'°"; **'"'/ ^''^Jffie, This
• -J. 4-1, 4- T rin Tint rpmember anything ot my pasL nie.
'"",;' aXexP ained iTm nowlpeaking English. It is not my
can be easily ^''P'™^^' ' , „{ ^ mother tongue are present
Mother tongue, ™ ~ J^*^^ f"^^ ^^^g them up, they rush
in my consciousness, ^^ !«' J"; J^ consciousness is the name
't^f trSro •thlmli^aCel, and within its depths are
:tld up aZ™ experiences. Try and struggle and they will come
""' thfsTsIhl iTand^demonstrated evidence. Veriflcation is
the very depths of the ocean of memory «^° \^j"P , "^
and you will get a complete reminiscence of your P^^* ■^^•
'^o then the Hindu believes that he is a spirit. Him the swora
mets the change of this center from body to body. Nor is he
rrbo:": by the condition of matter I» ^^-^^X^ ''^^
free, unbounded, holy, pure and perfect. But somehow
ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS FAITHS. 179
Why should the free perfect and pure being be under the thral-
dom of matter, IS the next question. How can the perfect be
de uded mto the belief that he is imperfect, is the questio w
have been told that the Hindus shirk the question and say that no
uch question can be there, and some thinkers want to anLlrt by-
am s" to" filfurhr ™" Tf ""'"* '^"^'' »^ «^ -^
r^ames to fill up the gap. But naming is not explaining. The ques-
. t>on remams the same. How the perfect becomes the qu^i per
fee ; how can the pure, the absolute, change even a micrrcopTc
pa t,cIeo ,ts nature? But the Hindu is more sincere. He do
^aceT f "■'•*" ™'*" ^"P"^''^- He is brave enough to
face the question ,n a manly fashion. And his answer is, I do nol
kn w. I do not know how the perfect being, the soul, came to thLk
self as .mperfect, as joined to and conditioned by matter But
the fact ,s a fact for all that. It is a fact in evervbod/s con
sconsness that he thinks himself as the body We do notTtL .'
to explain why I am in this body. The answ. tit is thfS
God ,sno exi^anation. It is nothing more than what they av
themselves: "We do not know." ^ ^
Well, then, the human soul is eternal and immortal nerfect
t:a™ther"te'"*'T^™'^^'''•^"»'«"^-"*-^~
10 another. The present is determined by our mst ppfinr,o a
the future will be by the present; thus it ^il go n voWnT;;:
revertmg back from birth to birth and death to death ^ '
But here is another question; is man a tiny boat in a tempest
raised one moment on the foaming crest of a billow and dasled
down mto a yawning chasm the next, rolling to and fro iTJhl
mercy of good and bad actions-a powLrless, felpLs treckt an
eTec^ia mr" :f T' "-""'™--^ --nt of cI e and
effects a httle moth placed under the wheel causation, which rolls
on crushmg everything in its way, and waits not for hel^dol
tears or the orphan's cry? The heart sinks at the idea yet thli
the law of nature. "Is there no honor' "to *i >""ea, yet this is
world and m trumpet voice proclaimed the glad tilings t" the
IMPROVEMENT ERA.
higher spheres. I have *;-* ^^f.'m.ione you shall be saved
darkness, all delusion, »d kuowmg h^^^^^^^ ^^.^^_ ^^^^ ^
from death over again, '-n"""" „ brethren, by that
what a hopeful name!" *";! " s-yea the fflndu refuses to call
•sweet name, heirs of '™™*' ^ J„j ^„a fte sharers of immortal
you sinners, ^e are the children ot 1.0a, g.^^^^^,
bliss, holy and perfect l>-"g^ .f ^^;„*^f ,« on human nature.
It is a sin to call a ">;\^» '''J ^^f/elusfon that you are sheep;
Come up! oh, live and f ^^e off the a ^^^^^^^, ^^ ^^^
i::r"n"'S::m:^en^.our servant, not you the
--C:i:iXttheVed.P— ;otadr.^^^^^^^^^
of unforgiving ^^l^'^^lZ'^^.^Z through every particle of
that at the head of all these law ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^
rr^r-r^erudri: - death st.. upon the
earth. And what is his nature? The Almighty
He is -77%\t r:ur"at r;:^ art ourmother; thou
and AU-mercif ul. T»iou art our , strength; give us
art our beloved friend; thou art the s~' ^^^ „„i,erse;
the next life." reached in the Vedas, and let us
This is the doctrine of 1°™ P'^^'"=7* " grfshna, whom the
see how it is fully developed and preached by K™li
HMus believe to have been «» "-^t h jtrld like a lotus
He taught that a man ought to live m ^^^^^__^^ ^
leaf, which grows m water but is ™™"»<' ^ y, hands to
n,an ought to live in this T^^-f^" reward in this or the
work. It is good to love God tej"'^« " ,3 3^;,^, and the
next world, but^ 1^ ^^^^ot*: w-^- - ^''>*- ™^ T^
prayer goes: Lord do noi w ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^
ing. If it be thy will I ^^^f^J^.^^^' ,f reward-unselfishly
this, that I may love thee without the hope
ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS FAITHS. 181
love for love's sake." One of the disciples of Krishna, the then
emperor of India, was driven from his throne by his enemies, and
had to take shelter in the forest in the Himalayas with his queen,
and there one day the queen was asking him how it was that he,
the most virtuous of men, should suffer so much misery; and Yuohis-
tera answered: "Behold, my queen, the Himalayas, how beautiful
they are; I love them. They do not give me anything, but my
nature is to love the grand, the beautiful, and therefore I love
them. Similarly, I love the Lord. He is the source of all beauty,
all sublimity. He is the only object to be loved; my nature is to
love him, and therefore I love. I do not pray for anything; I do
not ask for anything. Let him place me wherever he likes. I
must love him for love's sake. I cannot trade in love."
The Vedas teach that the soul is divine, only held under bond-
age of matter, and perfection will be reached when the bond shall
burst, and the word they use is therefore Mukto— freedom, free-
dom from the bonds of imperfection, freedom from death and
misery.
And this bondage can only fall off through the mercy of God,
and this mercy comes on the pure, so purity is the condition of his
mercy. How that mercy acts: he reveals himself to the pure
heart, and the pure and stainless man sees God, yea even in this
life, and then, and then only, all the crookedness of the heart is
made straight. Then all doubt ceases. He is no more the freak
of a terrible law of causation. This is the very center, the very
vital conception of Hinduism. The Hindu does not want to live
upon words and theories— if there are existences beyond ordinary
sensual existences, he wants to come face to face with them. If
there is a soul in him which is not matter, if there is an all-merci-
ful, universal soul, he will go to him direct. He must see him, and
that alone can destroy all doubts. So the best proof a Hindu sage
gives about the soul, about God, is, "I have seen the soul; I have
seen God." And that is the only condition of perfection. The
Hindu religion does not consist in struggles and attempts to believe
a certain doctrine or dogma, but in realizing; not in believing, but
in being and becoming.
So the whole struggle in their system is a constant struggle to
become perfect, to become divine, to reach God and see God; and
182 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
this reaching God, seeing God, being perfect, even as the father in
heaven is perfect, constitutes the religion of the Hindus.
And what becomes of man when he becomes perfect? He
lives a life of bliss infinite. He enjoys infinite and perfect bliss,
having obtained the only thing in which man ought to have pleasure,
God, and enjoys the bliss with God. So far all the Hindus are
agreed. This is the common religion of all the sects of India; but
then the question comes, perfection is absolute, and the absolute
cannot be two or three. It cannot have any qualities. It cannot
be an individual. And so when a soul becomes perfect and abso-
lute, it must become one with Brahma, and he would only realize
the Lord as the perfection, the reality, of his OAvn nature and exist-
ence, the existence absolute, knowledge absolute, and life absolute.
We have often and often read about this being called the losing of
individuality, as becoming a stock or a stone. "He jests at scars
that never felt a wound."
I tell you it is nothing of the kind. If it is happiness to enjoy
the consciousness of this small body, it must be more happiness to
enjoy the consciousness of two bodies, so three, four, five; and the
aim, the ultimate of happiness would be reached when it would
become a universal consciousness. Therefore, to gain this infinite
universal individuality, this miserable little prison individuality
must go. Then alone can death cease when I am one with life;
then alone can misery cease when J am one with happiness itself;
then alone can all errors cease when I am one with knowledge itself;
and it is the necessary scientific conclusion; science has proved that
physical individuality is a delusion, that really my body is one little
continuously changing body, in an unbroken ocean of matter, and
the Adwaitan is the necessary conclusion with my other counter-
part, mind.
Science is nothing but the finding of unity, and as any science
can reach the perfect unity, it would stop from further progress,
because it would reach the goal, thus chemistry cannot progress
farther, when it would discover one element out of which all others
could be made. Physics would stop when it would be able to ful-
fill its services in discovering one energy of which all the others
are but the manifestations, and the science of religion became per-
fect when it discovered Him who is the one life in a universe of
ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS FAITHS. 183
death; Him who is the constant basis of an everchanging world;
One who is the only soul of which all other souls are but delusive
manifestations. Thus was it, through multiplicity and duality, the
ultimate unit was reached, and religion can go no farther, and this
is the goal of all, again and again, science after science, again and
again.
And all science is bound to come to this conclusion in the long
run. Manifestation, and not creation, is the word of science of
to-day, and he is only glad that what he had cherished in his bosom
for ages is going to be taught in some forcible language, and with
further light by the latest conclusions of science.
Descend we now from the aspirations of philosophy to the
religion of the ignorant. On the very outset, I may tell you that
there is no polytheism in India. In every temple, if one stands by
and listens, he will find the worshipers applying all the attributes
of God, including omnipresence, to these images. It is not poly-
theism, neither would the name heathenism answer our question.
"The rose called by any other name would smell as sweet." Names
are not explanations.
I remember, when a boy, a Christian man was preaching to a
crowd in India. Among other sweet things he was telling the peo-
ple that if he gave a blow to their idol with his stick what could
it do? One of his hearers sharply answered, "If I abuse your God
what can he do?" "You would be punished," said the preacher,
" when you die." "So my idol will punish you when you die," said
the villager.
The tree is knovm by its fruits; and when I have seen amongst
them that are called idolatrous men, the like of whom in morality
and spirituality and love, I have never seen anywhere, I stop and
ask myself, Can sin beget holiness?
Superstition is the enemy of man, bigotry worse. Why does
a Christian go to church, why is the cross holy, why is the face
turned toward the sky in prayer? Why are there so many images
in the Catholic church, why are there so many images in the minds
of Protestants, when they pray? My brethren, we can no more
think about anything without a material image than it is profitable
for us to live without breathing. And by the law of association
the material image calls the mental idol up, and vice versa. Omnip-
184 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
otent to almost the whole world means nothing. Has God
superficial area? if not, when we repeat the word we think of the
extended earth; that is all.
As we find that somehow, by the laws of our constitution,
we have got to associate our ideas of infinity with the ideal of
a blue sky, or a sea — the omnipresence covering the idea of
holiness with an idol of a church or mosque, or a cross — so the
Hindus have associated the ideas of holiness, purity, truth, omni-
presence, and all other ideas with different images and forms. But
with this difference: upon certain actions some are drawn their
whole lives to their idol of a church and never rise higher, because
with them a religion means an intellectual assent to certain doc-
trines and doing good to their fellows. The whole religion of the
Hindus is centered in realization. Man is to become divine,
realizing the divine, and, therefore, idol or temple or church or
books, are only the supports, the helps of his spiritual childhood,
but on and on he must progress.
He must not stop anywhere; "external worship, material wor-
ship," says the Vedas "is the lowest stage; struggling to rise
higher, mental prayer is the next stage; but the highest stage is
when the Lord has been realized." Mark the same earnest man
who was kneeling before the idol tell you hereafter of struggles,
"Him the sun cannot express, nor the moon nor the stars, the
lightning cannot express him, nor what we speak of fire; through
him they all shine." But with this difference, he does not abuse
the images or call it sin. He recognizes in it a necessary stage of
his life. "The child is father of the man." Would it be right for
the old man to say that childhood is a sin or youth a sin? Nor is
it compulsory in Hinduism.
But if a man can realize his divine nature with the help of an
image, would it be right to call it a sin? Nor even when he has
passed that stage that he should call it an error. To the Hindu
man is not traveling from error to truth, but from truth to truth,
from lower to higher truth. . To him all the religions from the
lowest f etichism to the highest absolutism means so many attempts
of the human soul to grasp and realize the Infinite, determined by
the conditions of its birth, and associations, and each of these
mark a stage of progress, and every soul is a child-eagle soaring
ORIENTAL RELIGIOUS FAITHS. 185
higher and higher; gathering more and more strength till it reaches
the glorious sun.
Unity in variety is the plan of nature, and the Hindu has
recognized it. Every other religion lays down a certain amount
of fixed dogma, and trys to force the whole society through it.
They lay down for society one coat which must fit Jack and Job
and Henry, all alike. If it does not fit John or Henry they must
go without a coat to cover the body. They have discovered that
the absolute can only be realized or thought of or stated through
the relative, and the image, cross or crescent are simply so many
centers — so many pegs to help the spiritual idea on. It is not
that this help is necessary for everyone, but for many, and those
that do not need it have no right to say that it is wrong.
One thing I must tell you. Idolatry in India does not mean a
horror. It is not the mother of harlots. On the other hand, it is
the attempt of undeveloped minds to grasp higher spiritual truths.
The Hindus have their own faults, they sometimes have their
exceptions; but mark this: it is always punishing their own bodies
and never to cut the throats of their neighbors. If the Hindu
fanatic burns himself on the pyre, he never lights the fire of inqui-
sition; and even this cannot be laid at the door of religion any
more than the burning of witches can be laid at the door of
Christianity.
To the Hindu, then, the whole world of religions is only a travel-
ing, a coming up, of different men and women, through various
conditions and circumstances, to the same goal. Every religion is
only an effort at evolving a God out of the material man; and the
same God is the inspirer of all of them. Why, then, are there so
many contradictions? They are only apparent, says the Hindu.
The contradictions come from the same truth adapting itself to
the different circumstances of different natures.
It is the same light coming through different colors. And
these little variations are necessary for that adaptation. But in
the heart of everything the same truth reigns ; the Lord has
declared to the Hindu in his incarnation as Krishna, "I am in
every religion as the thread through a string of pearls. And when-
ever thou seest extraordinary holiness and extraordinary power
raising and purifying humanity, know ye that I am there." And
186 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
what was the result? Through the whole order of Sanscrit philos-
ophy, I challenge anybody to find such expression as that the Hindu
only will be saved and not others. Says Vyas, "We find perfect
men even beyond the pale of our caste and creed." One thing more.
How can, then, the Hindu whose whole idea centers in God believe
in the Buddhist who is agnostic, or the Jain who is atheist?
The Buddhists do not depend upon God; but the whole force
of their religion is directed to the great central truth in every
religion, to evolve a God out of man. They have not seen the
Father, but they have seen the Son. And he that hath seen
the Son hath seen the Father. This, brethren, is a short sketch of
the ideas of the Hindus. The Hindu might have failed to carry
out all his plans, but if there is to be ever a universal religion, it
must be one which would hold no location in place or time, which
would be infinite like the God it would preach, whose sun shines
upon the followers of Krishna or Christ; saint or sinner alike which
would not be the Brahman or Buddhist, Christian or Mohammedan,
but the sum total of all these, and still have infinite space for
development; which in its catholicity would embrace in its infinite
arms and formulate a place for every human being, from the low-
est groveling man who is scarcely removed in intellectuality from
the brute, to the highest mind, towering almost above humanity,
and who makes society stand in awe and doubt his human nature.
EARLY SCENES AND INCIDENTS IN THE
CHURCH.
BY OLIVER COWDERY.
[In our prospectus for Volume II, attention was called to the fact
that nothing could be more important to the young men of the Church
than to be familiar with the original sources of our Church history, and
that of those original sources none, perhaps, were of more importance
than a series of eight letters written by Oliver Cowdery to W. W. Phelps,
in 1834, and published by the latter in the Saints' Messenger and Advo-
cate, at Kirtland, Ohio; and some years later in the Times and Seasons.
The letters were written in response to some questions submitted to
Oliver Cowdery by Elder Phelps, and this accounts for the form of some
parts of these communications.
We precede the letters of Elder Cowdery by one from the pen of
the Prophet Joseph, in which he himself states the time and place of his
birth, and refutes some of the slanders that were circulated about his
early life.
In concluding this note we wish to express the belief that our young
men, if they will peruse these letters with care, will find them of intense
interest, and from them receive much enlightenment concerning the
coming forth of the work of the Lord in the last days. — Editors.]
A LETTER FROM JOSEPH SMITH TO OLIVER COWDERY. •
Dear Brother: —
Having learned from the first number of the Messenger and
Advocate, that you were not only about to "give a history of the
188 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
rise and progress of the Church of the Latter-day Saints;" but, that
said history would necessarily embrace my life and character, I
have been induced to give you the time and place of my birth; as I
have learned that many of the opposers of those principles which
I have held forth to the world, profess a personal acquaintance
with me, though when in my presence, represent me to be another
person in age, education, and statue, from what I am.
I was born (according to the record of the same, kept by my
parents) in the town of Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, on the
23rd of December, 1805.
At the age of ten my father's family removed to Palmyra,
New York, where, and in the vicinity of which, I lived, or, made it
my place of residence, until I was twenty-one; the latter part in
the town of Manchester.
During this time, as is common to most, or all youths, I fell
into many vices and follies; but as my accusers are, and have been
forward to accuse me of being guilty of gross and outrageous vio-
lations of the peace and good order of the community, I take the
occasion to remark that, though as I have said above, "as is com '
mon to most, or all youths, I fell into many vices and follies," I
have not, neither can it be sustained, in truth, been guilty of wrong-
ing or injuring any man or society of men; and those imperfections
to which I allude, and for which I have often had occasion to
lament, were a light, and too often, vain mind, exhibiting a foolish
and trifling conversation.
This being all, and the worst, that my accusers can substanti-
ate against my moral character, I wish to add that it is not without
a deep feeling of regret that I am thus called upon in answer ta
my own conscience, to fulfill a duty I owe to myself, as well as to
the cause of truth, in making this public confession of my former
uncircumspect walk, and trifling conversation and more particularly,
as I often acted in violation of those holy precepts which I knew
came from God. But as the "Articles and Covenants," of this
Church are plain upon this particular point, I do not deem it import-
ant to proceed further. I only add, that I do not, nor never have,
pretended to be any other than a man "subject to passion," and
liable, without the assisting grace of the Savior, to deviate
EARLY SCENES AND INCIDENTS IN THE CHURCH. 189
from that perfect path in which all men are commanded to
walk.*
By giving the above a place in your valuable paper, you will
confer a lasting favor upon myself, as an individual, and, as I humbly
hope, subserve the cause of righteousness.
I am, with feelings of esteem, your fellow laborer in the Gospel
of our Lord, Joseph Smith.
0. COWDERY'S LETTERS TO W. W. PHELPS.
Letter L
North, Medina Co., Ohio,
Sabbath evening, September 7, 1834.
Dear Brother: —
Before leaving home I promised, if I tarried long, to write;
and while a few moments are now allowed me for reflection, aside
from the cares and common conversation of my friends in this
place, I have thought that were I to communicate them to you,
might, perhaps, if they should not prove especially beneficial to
yourself, by confirming you in the faith of the Gospel, at least
be interesting, since it has pleased our heavenly Father to call us
both to rejoice in the same hope of eternal life. And by giving
them publicity, some thousands who have embraced the same
covenant may learn something more particular upon the rise of
this Church, in this last time. And while the gray evening is fast
changing into a settled darkness, my heart responds with the
* Of the youthful follies which the prophet here confesses, George
Q. Cannon, in his "Life of Joseph Smith," says: "His quick conscience
was apt to exaggerate every youthful foible, and he regarded many of
his acts of thoughtlessness as offenses at which the heavens must frown.
* * * Despite his own self-accusation the answer to his prayer proves
that his probationary period had been passed satisfactorily to the heavens,
and that he was still unstained by any dark offense."
190 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
happy millions who are in the presence of the Lamb, and are past
the power of temptation, in rendering thanks, though feebly, to
the same Parent.
Another day has passed into that, to us, boundless ocean,
eternity ! where nearly six thousand years have gone before; and
what flits across the mind like an electric shock is, that it will
never return! Whether it has been well improved or not; whether
the principle emanating from him who "hallowed" it, have been
observed; or whether, like the common mass of time, it has been
heedlessly spent, is not for me to say— one thing I can say —it can
never be recalled; it has rolled in to assist in filling up the grand
space decreed in the mind of its Author, till nature shall have
ceased her work, and time its accustomed revolutions— when its
Lord shall have completed the gathering of his elect, and with
them enjoy that Sabbath which shall never end.
On Friday, the 5th, in company with our brother Joseph
Smith, Jr., 1 left Kirtland for this place (New Portage,) to attend
the conference previously appointed. To be permitted, once more,
to travel with this brother, occasions reflections of no ordinary
kind. Many have been the fatigues and privations which have
fallen to my lot to endure for the Gospel's sake since 1828, with
this brother. Our road has frequently been spread with the
"fowler's snare;" and our persons sought with the eagerness of the
savage's ferocity for innocent blood, by men, either heated to des-
peration by the insinuations of those who professed to be "guides
and way-marks" to the kingdom of glory, or the individuals them-
selves. This, I confess, is a dark picture to spread before our
patrons, but they will pardon my plainness when I assure them of
the truth. In fact, God has so ordered, that the reflections which
I am permitted to cast upon my past life, relative to a knowledge
of the way of salvation, are rendered "doubly endearing." Not
only have I been graciously preserved from wicked and unreason-
able men with this, our brother, but I have seen the fruit of per-
severance m proclaiming the everlasting Gospel, immediately after
It was declared to the world in these last days, in a manner not to
be forgotten while heaven gives me common intellect. And what
serves to render the reflection past expression on this point is
EARLY SCENES AND INCIDENTS IN THE CHURCH. 191
that from his hand I received baptism, by the direction of the
angel of God — the first received into this Church in this day.
Near the time of the setting of the sun. Sabbath evening,
April 5th, 1829, my natural eyes for the first time beheld this
brother. He then resided in Harmony, Susquehanna County, Penn-
sylvania. On Monday the 6th, I assisted him in arranging some
business of a temporal nature and on Tuesday, the 7th, commenced
to write the Book of Mormon. These were days never to be for-
gotten— to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspira-
tion of heaven, awakened the utmost gratitude of this bosom.
Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth,
as he translated with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites
would have said, "Interpreters," the history or record called the
"Book of Mormon."
To notice in even few words, the interesting account given by
Mormon and his faitful son Moroni, of a people once beloved and
favored of heaven, would supercede my present design: I shall
therefore defer this to a future period, and as I said in the intro-
duction, pass more directly to some few incidents immediately con-
nected with the rise of this Church, which may be entertaining to
some thousands who have stepped forward, amid the frowns of
bigots and the calumny of hypocrites, and embraced the Gospel of
Christ.
No men in their sober senses, could translate and write the
directions given to the Nephites, from the mouth of the Savior, of
the precise manner in which men should build up his Church, and
especially when corruption had spread an uncertainty over all forms
and systems practiced among men, without desiring a privilege of
showing the willingness of the heart by being buried in the liquid
grave, to answer a "good conscience by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ."
After writing the account given of the Savior's ministry to
the remnant of the seed of Jacob upon this continent, it was easily
to be seen, as the prophet said would be, that darkness covered
the earth and gross darkness the minds of the people. On reflect-
ing further it was as easily to be seen, that amid the great strife
and noise concerning religion, none had authority from God to
administer the ordinances of the Gospel. For the question might
192 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
be asked, have men authority to administer in the name of Christ,
who deny revelations, when his testimony is no less than the spirit
of prophecy? and his religion based, built and sustained by imme-
diate revelations in all ages of the world, when he has had a people
on earth? If these facts were buried and carefully concealed by
men whose craft would have been in danger if once permitted to
shine in the faces of men, they were no longer to us; and we only
waited for the commandment to be given, "Arise and be baptized."
This was not long desired before it was realized. The Lord,
who is rich in mercy, and ever willing to answer the consistent
prayer of the humble, after we had called upon him in a fervent
manner, aside from the abodes of men, condescended to manifest
to us his will. On a sudden, as from the midst of eternity, the
voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us, while the veil was parted
and the angel of God came down clothed with glory, and delivered
the anxiously looked for message, and the keys of the Gospel of
repentance. What joy ! what wonder! what amazement! While
the world was racked and distracted — while millions were groping
as the blind for the wall, and while all men were resting upon
uncertainty, as a general mass, our eyes beheld — our ears heard.
As in the "blaze of day;" yes, more — above the glitter of the May
sunbeam, which then shed its brilliancy over the face of nature!
Then his voice, though mild, pierced to the center, and his words,
"I am thy fellow-servant," dispelled every fear. We listened, we
gazed, we admired! 'Twas the voice of the angel from glory —
'twas a message from the Most High, and as we heard we rejoiced,
while his love enkindled upon our souls, and we were rapt in the
vision of the Almighty! Where was room for doubt? Nowhere;
uncertainty had fled, doubt had sunk, no more to rise, while fiction
and deception had fled forever.
But, dear brother, think further, think for a moment, what joy
filled our hearts and with what surprise we must have bowed, (for
who would not have bowed the knee for such a blessing?) when we
received under his hand the holy priesthood, as he said, "upon you
my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer this priest-
hood and this authority, which shall remain upon earth, that the
sons of Levi may yet oflier an offering unto the Lord in righteous-
ness ! "
EARLY SCENES AND INCIDENTS IN THE CHURCH. 193
I shall not attempt to paint to you the feelings of this heart,
nor the majestic beauty and glory which surrounded us on this
occasion; but you will believe me when I say, that earth, nor men,
with the eloquence of time, cannot begin to clothe language in as
interesting and sublime a manner as this holy personage. No; nor
has this earth power to give the joy, to bestow the peace, or com-
prehend the wisdom which was contained in each sentence as
they were delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit! Man may
deceive his fellow man; deception may follow deception, and the
children of the wicked one may have power to seduce the foolish
and untaught, till naught but fiction feeds the manj^, and the fruit
of falsehood carries in its current the giddy to the grave, but one
touch with the finger of his love, yes, one ray of glory from the
upper world, or one word from the mouth of the Savior, from the
bosom of eternity, strikes it all into insignificance, and blots it
forever from the mind! The assurance that we were in the presence
of an angel; the certainty that we heard the voice of Jesus, and
the truth unsullied as it flowed from a pure personage, dictated by
the will of God, is to me, past description, and I shall ever look
upon this expression of the Savior's goodness with wonder and
thanksgiving while I am permitted to tarry, and in those mansions
where perfection dwells and sin never comes, I hope to adore in
that DAY which shall never cease.*
I must close for the present: my candle is quite extinguished,
and all nature seems locked in silence, shrouded in darkness, and
enjoying that repose so necessary to this life. But the period is
rolling on when night will close, and those who are found worthy
will inherit that city where neither the light of the sun nor the
moon will be necessary! "For the glory of God will lighten it, and
the Lamb will be the light thereof."
* I will hereafter give you a full history of the rise of this Church
up to the time stated in my introduction; which will necessarily embrace
the life and character of this brother. I shall therefore leave the history
of baptism, etc., till its proper place.
THE JUSTIFICATION OF FAITH.
BEING A REVIEW OF W. H. LAMASTER'S ARTICLE "WHAT
AGNOSTICISM IS."
BY B. H. ROBERTS.
Mr. W. H. Lamaster, of Indianapolis, Indiana, will be remem-
bered by our readers as the author of an excellent article which
appeared in Vol. I., of the Era under the title "How do we Think;"
and also by his article in the December number, Vol. IL, "What
Agnosticism Is."
The gentleman seems to have been favorably impressed by the
liberal spirit of the Era in publishing in Vol. I., the series of arti-
cles "Religious Faiths," by ^vriters who were not "Mormons," while
the Era is decidedly a Mormon publication; and since we were admit-
ting to our pages the statements of religious faiths and systems
other than our own, and that by writers of the respective faiths,
he asked if there would be any objection to our publishing an article
written by him on "What Agnosticism Is." To which we replied
that we could see no reason why we should not publish the views of
an agnostic as well as the statements of the various religious
faiths; saying at the time, however, that we might "take the liberty
to make some remarks by way of comment, tending to show how
we who have been reared in the midst of such evidences of the
existence of God and the verity of religion can never be influenced
by agnosticism." Mr. Lamaster readily consented to this arrange-
THE JUSTIFICA2I0N OF FAITH. 195
ment, and hence the publication of his article and these remarks
with reference to it.
The article in question states the negative creed — the position
of the agnostic — admirably. It is temperate in spirit, and respect-
fully salutes its antagonist, Faith, with whom, nevertheless, it an-
nounces in quiet tones its intention to wage a warfare. Agnosti-
cism, too, as Mr. Lamaster states it, is presented in the bewitching
garb of humility. She comes modestly forward saying, in effect,
"I don't know; I don't believe you know; or that anybody can know
of the existence of God."
It is because of these good qualities of the article that we
believe it the more dangerous. The usual brutal tirade made by infi-
dels against religion so offends the natural religious sentiment of the
human mind that it at once repulses and destroys its own effective-
ness because of its ribaldry and unnecessary blasphemy. But when
Unbelief comes to us in a temperate spirit, respectfully states its
case and modestly sets forth its doubts, it appeals to the Chris-
tian on his weakest side, and is likely to infuse doubt in the mind
as to the very existence of God. It is for this reason that we
think it necessary to point out what we regard as the unreasonable-
ness of the agnostic's position, and especially how there is abso-
lutely no justifiable reason for doubt as to the existence of God
so far as Latter-day Saints are concerned.
That we may have immediately before us the very heart of
Mr. Lamaster's article, we quote his definitions :
1. "An agnostic, as contradistinguished from a Greek gnostic — one;
who knows — is one who does not know.*
2. "It (agnosticism) may be defined as a 'theory of the unknowable
which assumes its most definite form in the denial of the possibility of any
knowledge of God.' And so the agnostic may be said to be one who
does not claim, or profess to know of the existence of a supreme being
called God.
3. "Christianity, relying upon what it is pleased to call a divine
revelation, says there is an infinite God, while agnosticism, having no
other guide but reason, says, 'I do not know.' Hence upon the one hand
* Italics are mine. R.
196 . IMPROVEMENT ERA.
we find the Christian professing to have a knowledge of the first and
final causes of the universe, and particularly of this world and of the
things in it; while upon the other is to be found the agnostic confessing
his ignorance of all such things.
4. "It is to be conceded that it is among the possibilities of the
human mind not only to conceive but also to believe;. and yet it is not to
be denied that there are also certain boundary lines within which it may
both conceive and believe, and beyond them it cannot go. That being
true might we not enquire, how is the human mind— it being finite —
either to have a conception or a belief about things infinite? The
human mind we know to be limited and consequently, as Sir "William
Hamilton says, it 'can know only the limited, and the conditionally
limited.' Therefore as concerning things of the infinite (admitting
there be an infinite) the human mind can have neither a conception nor
a belief of any kind whatever.
5. "With what is called divine revelation agnosticism has nothing
whatever to do except it be to attack after the most scientific methods the
weakness of its very foundation stone. It must, therefore, as it does,
dispute every claim that Christianity makes in favor of the doctrine of
the divinity of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Neither does it stop
with these scriptures, but others, whether they be those of the Vedas or
the Zend-Avesta, the Koran or the Book of Mormon, it weighs and meas-
ures in the scales of science, and one and all of them it pronounces to be
the productions of finite men instead of an infinite God."
In these paragraphs we have before us the definition of an
agnostic; of agnosticism; the position of the Christian is stated so
far as his reliance upon divine revelation for his faith in the exist-
ence of God is concerned; the ability of the human mind, both to
conceive and believe, within certain limits, is conceded. But owing
to the finite power of the mind of man, denial is made of his power
to have a conception or a belief of any kind whatever concerning the
infinite;' and, fmaWy, the statement is made that agnosticism has
nothing to do with what is called divine revelation except to attack
its very foundation stone, and dispute, as it does, the claim of all
alleged scriptures to divine authenticity, and pronounces them the
productions of finite man.
We understand the only argument in Mr. Lamaster's paper to be :
That as the mind of man is finite, he can neither conceive nor
believe in the infinite; and therefore, man can neither conceive or
THE JUSTIFICATION OF FAITH. 197
believe in God. In addition to this statement, substantially found
in paragraph four, above quoted, it is urged again and again
throughout the paper under consideration, as witness the fol-
lowing:
"It will not be denied that human beliefs as well as everything else
about the human mind are relative. And if that be true, how is finite man
to have any conception of, much less any real foundation whatever for, a
belief in the existence of an iiifinite God?
"Mr. Herbert Spencer says that 'the infinite, the absolute, to be
known at all must be classed,' and adds, for it even 'to be positively
thought of, it must be thought of as such or such — as of this or that
kind;' and then he inquires, 'Can it be like in kind to anything of which
we have sensible experience?' and wisely answers, 'Obviously not.' We
must, therefore, admit then if there is an infinite God that we as finite
beings can know nothing whatever of his existence.
"As man is a finite being and limited in knowledge as well as he is
in everything else, there will ever be something of which he can know
nothing whatever. It must therefore be the infinite being, if any at all,
who is able to understand and to know all things. The finite one being cir-
eumscribed and limited, his knowledge must necessarily be also circum-
scribed and limited, and therefore he is, his desires and ambitions to the
contrary notwithstanding to know all things, an agnostic."
The reasonable, and, as we think, the effectual answer to all
this would be: The Christian concedes that the human mind in its
present state is limited in its knowledge, unable by its own powers
to conceive or comprehend the infinite. Nor does any theology
that we know anything about, Catholic, Protestant, or " Mormon "
claim for man the ability to circumscribe God, that is, to compre-
hend him entirely. Though, speaking for " Mormon " theology, we
would not like to say, as some Catholics do, as quoted by Mr. Lam-
aster, that "a God understood would be no God at all;" for
" Mormonism " holds out the hope that the time will come when we
shall know God, we mean in the sense of comprehending him; and
the mere fact of man coming to such knowledge will not dethrone
the Almighty. But to continue our comment on Mr. Lamaster's
argum.ent. We concede that the mind of man as to its knowledge
in this state of existence is finite; unable clearly to comprehend
the infinite. To the question of Zophar, the friend of Job —
1 98 IMPRO VEMENT ERA.
"Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the
Almighty unto perfection?" we would be compelled, perhaps, to
answer in the negative. With Paul we would be obliged to exclaim
— " How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past find-
ing out!"
But does all this make it impossible for God, the infinite, to
reveal the fact of his existence ?
Is it impossible for God to reveal to man the fact that Deity is
infinite ?
And although the mind of man is finite, does it follow that he
cannot believe this truth which God reveals ?
Is it necessarily a law of logic that man cannot have a rational
faith in the existence, power, and infiniteness of any being or force
unless it is a being or force that he can fully comprehend?
The answer to these questions must be a negative; and if such
would be a reasonable answer, then the difficulties suggested in
Mr. Lamaster's argument are removed. The matter would stand
thus: The finite mind of man cannot by searching find out God —
"It must be," as Mr. Lamaster says "the infinite being, if any at
all, who is able to understand and know all things." But that infi-
nite Being, understanding all things, among them his own infinite-
ness, he certainly can, by revelation, make known his existence to
man, and can reveal to him the fact that God^that is, that he
himself, is infinite. And if such are the limits of man's understand-
ing that the quality of infiniteness is vague and somewhat beyond
the power of his mind to grasp, he can at least believe in the fact
which God, the Infinite, reveals to him. And a little reflection
upon this phase of the subject will convince one that not only is it
possible to believe in the existence of facts which the mind does
not fully comprehend, but it is quite common for us to do so. The
child in this way accepts the statements of the parent through
quite a number of the years of its experience. In like manner the
pupil accepts the statements of his teacher, and is gradually led
along the pathway of knowledge. And why in like manner should
not men and women who, after all, are but "children of a larger
growth, accept the statements of God's revelations to the effect
THE JUSTIFICATION OF FAITH. 199
that there is ''a God in heaven who is infinite and eternal, from
everlasting to everlasting, the same unchangeable God, the framer
of heaven and earth and all things that are in them " ?
At the last analysis, then, the whole matter resolves itself
into the question — has God by revelation made his existence known
to man? Has he by revelation made known the fact that he is
infinite? The traditions of humanity answer yes; the revelations
of God in the Jewish scriptures answer yes. The works and laws
of nature, too, bear strong, corroborative testimony to the aflnirma-
tion of both tradition and revelation.
The agnostic, however, will set all this aside and say the evi-
dence for the alleged fact is not sufficient to warrant a positive
conclusion, and he refuses to accept probability as a sufficient basis
for action in the matter of obeying the gospel. This attitude of
the agnostic opens a large field for investigation and for discussion,
but one, of course, altogether beyond anything contemplated in
this article. All we promised to ourselves in this paper was merely
to point out the inconsistency of the agnostic's chief argument
based upon the inability of the finite to comprehend the infinite;
and to show if we could that, to say the least, it is a remarkable
conclusion the agnostic arrives at when he says from his premises
that "if there is an infinite God . . . we as finite beings can
know nothing whatever of his existence! "
If we have made the unreasonableness of this conclusion clear,
we have well nigh reached the limit of the task proposed to our-
selves. We would only say in addition that to the testimony of
the universal traditions of mankind for the existence of God; to
the testimony of the revelations of the Jewish scriptures for the
same great truths; to the corroborative testimony of the works of
nature — Mormons add the testimony of the Nephite scriptures,
the Book of Mormon, a whole volume of revelation, from which
the testimonies of the prophets and seers of sleeping nations speak
to the men of this generation; testifying to the existence of God;
declaring that he is infinite and eternal and the creator of the
heavens and the eaith. Nor do the witnesses which the Mormons
have end even here; for to a prophet in this generation, so Mormons
believe, God has revealed himself. Joseph Smith, a holy Prophet,
the Lord's mouth-piece to the world in this new dispensation of
200 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
the gospel — stood in the presence of God and conversed with him
as a man may speak with his friend; and he came from the excel-
lence of God's presence with a message to the world, which message
is the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, including divine
authority to administer the ordinances of the gospel.
This last witness for God we have within our reach. If we
did not know him personally many of our fathers and friends did;
so that we have his pretensions to having received a divine revela-
tion from God within our reach for investigation, for analysis. His
life is one with which we may be well acquainted, and we may
know whether or not it was consistent with the claims he makes.
When it is remembered, then, that in addition to all the testi-
mony that Christianity at large has the Latter-day Saints add the
testimony of many of the prophets who lived in America from the
most ancient times; and to that the testimony of righteous men
who live in their own day, it will be readily observed that they
have double the evidence for the existence of God that the so-
called Christian world has, and hence, as we believe, a more pro-
found faith in his existence — and hence also less cause for agnos-
ticism or unbelief.
Moreover, Joseph Smith held out the encouragement to all
men that by compliance with the will of God, they too, as well as
himself, might learn from the same divine source the knowledge of
God for themselves. Hence the matter of having faith in the
existence of God, and somewhat of a knowledge of his character
and attributes, is placed upon a better foundation than mere prob-
ability by the servants of God; for not only did Joseph Smith place
this matter upon a basis where men might know for themselves of
the fact of God's existence, but other servants of the Lord, and
even the Lord himself, placed it upon this basis. Jesus said: "If
ye will do the will of the Father ye shall know of the doctrine,
whether I speak of myself or of him that sent me." And to know
the truth of the "doctrine" which Jesus taught, would be to know
God, for his doctrine taught the existence of God, the Father, and
himself as the Son of God.
All this, however, will doubtless be set aside by the agnostic.
He will still say that the evidence for the facts for which
theists contend is still insufficient; and the testimony of Joseph
THE JUSTIFICATION OF FAITH. 201
Smith and other modern prophets will be set aside with the same
ease with which the testimonies of the Jewish prophets are set aside.
But we refer to it, nevertheless, to show that so far as the Latter-
day Saints are concerned, they stand in the midst of such a cloud
of witnesses that there is no place for unbelief in their hearts;
no place for agnosticism, so far as the existence of God and some
knowledge of his character and attributes are concerned. And
while the testimony may not be sufficient to lead all men to accept
the truth, it will nevertheless continue to appeal to very many of
both men and women and they will receive it, and by these wit-
nesses their feet will be kept in the way of faith.
THE MORNING STAR.
SONNET.
Day's fair and solitary handmaid! bright
Thou lingerest long within the silent sky;
When all thy sparkling kin have left thy sight,
And wander'd to their palaces on high;
Thou seem'st like herald sent upon his flight,
To bid the morning lift his heavy eye,
And give one farewell to departing night.
Life wakes within the world, and from his sleep,
The sun salutes the waters; on the shore
The little sportive billows rise and leap.
As if to kiss the sea-birds flying o'er —
Their whitening bosoms sighing 'neath the steep.
Nature now leaves her flowery bed in mirth.
And, hand in hand with Light, walks laughing o'er the earth.
Dr. Moore.
EMPEROR WILLIAM^S VISIT TO PALESTINE.
BY PROFESSOR J. M. TANNER, PRESIDENT OP AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE, LOGAN.
The emperor of Germany has just completed a visit to the
Holy Land, and though the purpose of that visit was the consecra-
tion of "The Church of the Redeemer," recently built by his royal
highness, the world is busy speculating about the ulterior and
national motives which he really had in view The German press
answers these speculations by saying that in this age of world-trot-
ters the German emperor certainly may, if he choose, make a tour
to the Holy Land without any political considerations. But the
German emperor is unlike any other ruling monarch today. So far
as he approves of any general policy inaugurated by his ministers,
or urged in behalf of any commercial advantage to his nation, he
endeavors to place himself at the head of that movement and to
throw his personality into every public question; and to be, what
he is in name, the responsible ruler of his empire. His movements
are not without a plan; his speeches are not witless, they voice a
strong sentiment, which may be a popular sentiment, or the senti-
ment of some statesman upon whom he largely relies.
We are therefore at liberty to speculate upon the aims of this
royal tour, and the accuracy of our speculations must depend
largely upon the relation of Germany to certain other countries in
general, to the internal demands of the nation, and to the relation-
ship which now exists and has long existed between the German
empire and Turkey.
The purposes ascribed to this visit are two-fold. First,
religious; second, political,— if a distinction can be made between
EMPEROR WILLIAM'S VISIT TO PALESTINE. 203
the religious and political purposes in a nation where the two ele-
ments are so strongly combined.
The religious aspect of this question is a two-fold one. In the
first place, it encourages the religious sentiment of Protestant
Germany by the consecration of a Protestant church in the city of
David, where heretofore the interest manifested in that wonderfully
historic spot has been by the Catholic world. In the second place,
Germany has a large Catholic population. Indeed the central party
of the Reichstag is the representative of that organization. Years
ago in the early creation of the empire there was a very strong
antagonism, during what is called the Kultur-Kampf , against the
Catholics, and the struggle lasted for many years, and the central
party was always in opposition to the government, which at this
time the emperor is trying to overcome by those means of concili-
ation not offensive to his Protestant subjects, v/ho by far out-num-
ber all other religious denominations of the empire.
When Germany took up the cause of two murdered Catholic
missionaries in China and made a naval demonstration and certain
demands upon China, the emperor announced himself as the politico-
religious head of his government, for Catholics as well as Protes-
tants; and that announcement has been reinforced by his recent
visit to the Holy Land.
France has undertaken to establish in oriental countries a sort
of hegemony over all Catholics, and to look upon herself as the
natural protector of the Catholic world in western as well as in
eastern Asia, whether they were French, Italians, Austrians, or
Germans. Italy, having overcome the papal power of Rome and
seized the government of entire Italy, became the natural opponent
of the pope— a political opponent— and by Italy's entrance into the
triple alliance Germany and Austria have been regarded in some
measure by the pope as accessories to Italy's crime. This attitude
of the triple alliance left France the natural ally of the papal power
of Rome, and through this preference the pope has naturally defer-
red much to France and relied upon her for the protection of Cath-
olic interests.
The Emperor William, by his newly inaugurated policy, denies
that prerogative on the part of France, so far as it affects German
subjects, and this is a source of much criticism and irritation on
204 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
the part of the French press. This effort on the part of the emperor
to conciliate his Catholic subjects has met with a considerable
response on their part; so that the appeals, instead of being made
to the pope and through the pope to France, as has often been the
case, are now made directly to Germany and its emperor as the
natural guardian of their interests in all parts of the world.
The surrender, therefore, of this powerful influence formerly
exercised by France, is a loss of considerable prestige in the Cath-
olic world, if not of influence over Catholics in all Catholic nations
of Europe. After the Church of the Redeemer at Jerusalem had
been consecrated— the church is located near that of the Holy Sepul-
chre—the emperor succeeded in the purchase of the abode of the
Holy Virgin, situated on Mount Zion, and presented it to the pope
of Rome for the use of the Catholics. This action will undoubtedly
prove a source of reconciliation with his Catholic subjects, and it is
a virtual announcement that the emperor, so far as he may assume
to be the head of the church in Germany, acts in a dual capacity —
protector of the Protestant as well as of the Catholic interests.
Though we may hardly suppose that the pope encouraged this
royal tour and manifestation of interest in Catholic welfare, yet
nothing has been said by him to show that he throws any discredit
upon it, and as a result France naturally feels uneasy over the
situation.
So far as the religious phase of the emperor's visit has any
effect upon his political aims, it must be sought for in the support
which he evidently hopes to secure from the central party of the
Reichstag, a party composed chiefly of Catholics.
So far as his visit has a purely political bearing that bearing
IS to be found in the relationship which exists between Germany
and Turkey. Ever since the Turko-Russian war Turkey has aban-
donded her relationship to England in so far as she regarded Eng-
land as her natural protector, the Turks believing that her interests
had been grossly betrayed by the English who encouraged this war
and who then left the Turks to take its consequences. Since then, Tur-
key has allied her interests with Russia, with Austria and with
England as the circumstances of the several occasions demanded.
Her extreme friendship for Russia at one time has alarmed the
Enghsh, and the Russians have been frustrated by combinations
EMPEROR WILLIAM'S VISIT TO PALESTINE. 205
made between the Turks and England, or France or Germany, as
Turkey found it to her interest to make political alliances. Turkey
has no policy; she is too weak to have one. Her strength lies in
the support which she gives to the foreign policy of one or more
of the great powers. Sometimes England, sometimes Russia, has
been stronger with the sublime porte at Constantinople than any
other power; but in the midst of the fluctuating influence which
one or the other of the great powers has exercised in a prominent
degree over the Turks, Germany has always been the second factor.
In the first place, Bismarck was the most prominent figure of diplo-
matic Europe. His influence and his consent must always be
secured in order to carry out any international purposes which the
great powers may have had in view. Taken therefore in its entirety
the German influence during the period of the last twenty years
has been farther-reaching and immieasurably stronger upon the
Turkish policy than that of perhaps all the other countries com-
bined, and it is perhaps true that the Turk often threw himself
into the arms of Russia or England at the suggestion of Bismarck
who foresaw certain advantages to be derived by the sultan from
the one course or the other. Nowhere was this German relation
to Turkey more strikingly exemplified than in the Greek war, where-
in Germany, feeling that the Greeks had been the aggressors, and
provokingly so, felt that Turkey must have a free hand in carrying
on that war against Greece, and, up to a certain point, to be allowed
all the advantages that would accrue to any other nation from
such a war.
Germany's policy in dealing with Turkey is wholly unlike that
of either Russia or England. Russia has sought territorial advan-
tages, and England's policy has been governed mainly by a determi-
nation to counteract that policy. Their positions have been purely
positive and negative. On the other hand, Germany has felt that
the sultan was not so sick a man as his traducers would have him
appear, and that Turkey had an assured existence covering a longer
period than that which even her friends had believed her to possess.
Furthermore, Germany believed that to reap the advantages which
must sooner or later come from the immense commerce and develop-
ment of the Turkish empire the best policy was that of a friendly
attitude toward the sultan, for two very suflSicient reasons. In the
206 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
first place, Germany desired all the advantages of a favored nation
in such great Turkish ports as Constantinople, Smyrna and Bey rout;
in the second place, Germany clearly foresaw the opening of a
vast region in Asia Minor, and that Asia Minor constituted one of
the commercial conquests of the modern world just as Africa to
the south and Asia to the east, especially China, no\V present. Con-
cessions to build railroads were desirable, and these were secured
and a railroad is now in process of construction from Constanti-
nople and may, within the next five years reach Biredjik, at the
headwaters of ths Euphrates river. This would open a region of
enormous wealth in agriculture as well as in minerals, and conces-
sions granted by the sultan might be an inducement to German set-
tlers to build up that wonderful region; and German commercial
interests have been the controling factor in her dealings with Tur-
key, irrespective of what the world may think about the moral
responsibility of the sultan for the massacres in Armenia, or for
the misfortunes of the Cretes. Commercial interests are, as they
always have been, paramount. They have carried with them more
Christian and moralizing forces, it is true, at one time than another.
But commerce has been the underlying motive in German as well as
in English foreign policy. "Carry to them our commerce and our
religion, if we can; but carry to them our commerce anyhow." All
theories of government, all national policies, have been more or
less elastic in the presence of this over-ruling and controling thought
of commercial activity.
The visit, therefore, of the emperor to the sultan at Constan-
tinople was no less significant than his visit to the Holy Land. The
former was pre-eminently political; the latter political and religious
combined, or a political mission which had to do chiefly with the
internal interests of the fatherland. It is noted that during this
visit the emperor refrained from going to Egypt. The English
control of Egypt is offensive to France, and the emperor's visit
there would undoubtedly have been taken as an offense, from the
fact that the French would have construed it as an endorsement of
the English policy in Egypt.
There are today three great centers of commercial activity
that give wonderful promise for the future— three countries in
which commercial competition, accompanied by political activity,
EMPEROR WILLIAM'S VISIT TO PALESTINE. 207
are now largely absorbing the attention of the commercial world.
These are, Africa, China and the Turkish empire. Africa has been
in the lead for some time. China's change of policy and promise
of commercial development is more recent. The emperor's visit
to Palestine, and especially to Constantinople, have reinforced the
repeated declaration of the commercial importance of Asia Minor
to adjacent Europe. Concessions, preferences and commercial
advantages in Turkey have been secured largely upon the favor of
the sultan. Seeing this, the emperor has cultivated his friendship,
and that in disregard of that public sentiment which has under-
taken to associate the ruler of a Christian empire with a "bloody
assassin."
Germany's race is a commercial one. She is England's great-
est competitor today. Her hopes are unbounded. They lie in the
direction of Turkey and China more than towards Africa, and the
recent visit of the German emperor has but emphasized Germany's
commercial intentions in a direction to which, of late, the world
has not given much attention. If Turkey could rid herself of some
of her enormous debt — enormous for a country so poor — there is
no reason why there might not be some promise of national recovery
on her part. If the Zion movement started at Basle creates an
enthusiasm sufficiently strong and extended among the Jews for
the rehabilitation and recovery of the Holy Land, its sale may
afford the sultan of Turkey one of the best opportunities of con-
tinued existence, and so long as there is promise of continued life
and power in the Turkish empire Germany's advantages lie in a
friendly attitude towards its ruler, who after all but responds to
a national sentiment by his visit to the Holy Land and to Abdul
Hamid.
LIVES OF THE APOSTLES.
I.
SIMON PETER.
BY PROFESSOR WILLARD DONE, PRESIDENT OF THE LATTER-DAY
saints' college, salt LAKE CITY.
Simon, or Simeon, as the name is sometimes written, was bom
in Bethsaida, a little fishing village on the north shore of the Sea
of Galilee, some years before the birth of Christ. He was the son
of a man named Jonah, or Jonas, who was in rather humble cir-
cumstances. Hence Simon was forced early in life to adopt a
calling and labor for his own support. He chose the craft of a
fisherman, forming a partnership with his brother Andrew, and sub-
sequently coming into close friendship with the two sons of Zebedee,
James and John. It is a remarkable fact that all four of these
afterwards became Apostles of the Lord Jesus.
Peter first comes into prominence in the New Testament nar-
rative, in connection with the preaching and baptizing of John the
Baptist. That he was a disciple of John, is at least implied in the
account which John the evangelist gives of the beautiful incident of
the baptism of Jesus, and the Baptist's subsequent testimony to our
Lord's divinity. It is also generally understood that he was one of
those who left John and followed Christ, and were so impressed
with the strength and sweetness of Messiah's character. (John 1 :
29-42). It was on this occasion, their first meeting, that Jesus
bestowed upon Simon the surname Peter (or Cephas) a stone, by
which he is more familiarly kno\^Ti to us than by his own name.
That Jesus, through his power of discerning spirits, recognized at
LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 209
once the strength and firmness of Simon's character is evident.
That the name was wisely bestowed, is proved by numerous events
in his subsequent history.
It does not appear that Peter and his associates were finally
called as Apostles of Christ on this occasion. This final call
occurred, we do not know how long afterward, while the four men
were engaged with their boats and nets on the Sea of Galilee. The
incident as related in Luke 5: 1-11, is as follows: The people were
crowding Jesus so closely that he took a seat in Peter's boat and
had him push out a short distance from the shore. After Jesus
had finished teaching the people, he told Peter to push out farther,
and lower the net. Peter answered that they had toiled all night,
but had taken nothing. Nevertheless, he and Andrew launched
into the deep and lowered their nets. So many fishes were caught
that the net began to break. James and John came to their assist-
ance, and both boats were filled with fish, until they were about to
sink. Then Peter, apparently seeing the intent of the miracle, fell
down before the Master, exclaiming, ''Depart from me; for I am a
sinful man, 0 Lord!" Jesus answered him, "Fear not; from hence-
forth thou shalt catch men." When they had brought their ships
to land, the four left everything and followed Christ.
About this time, Jesus took up his residence in Capernaum,
probably at Peter's house, as Peter, no doubt, was then living in
that village. It was here that the well-known incident of healing
Peter's wife's mother from an attack of fever, occurred. From this
time Peter and his associates followed Jesus throughout Galilee,
Judea, and Samaria, assisting him in his ministrations, and listen-
ing to his teachings. When the Apostles were chosen and ordained,
Peter's name stood at the head of the quorum list; and this dis-
tinction is granted him in all the lists of Christ's intimate follow-
ers. The primacy of Peter was doubtless recognized from the first.
During the first two years of Messiah's ministry, the individuality
of all the Apostles of Christ seems to have been swallowed up in
his own. We would naturally look for Peter to be among the first
who asserted themselves, and we are not disappointed. It was after
the feeding of the five thousand, which occurred in the wilder
ness on the north of the Sea of Galilee. The people were impor-
tuning Jesus to be their king. In order to escape them, he
210 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
dismissed his Apostles, commanding them to cross to the western
shore, while he retired alone into the mountain to pray. Toward
daylight, he approached their boat, walking upon the water. "When
Peter knew that it was the Lord, he attempted to walk out and
meet him, but failed at last, through lack of faith. Soon after
reaching the shore, they went to Capernaum, where a large number
of Christ's disciples deserted him, on account of his reproofs.
Turning to the twelve, Jesus asked if they, too, would leave him.
Then this mingled faith and impulsiveness of Peter manifested
itself, in his noble answer, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou
hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." (John 6: 68, 69).
This confession and the subsequent one, "Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God," (Matt. 16: 16), have been referred to
throughout the Christian era, as the type of a true faith in Christ.
It was soon after this second declaration, that Peter's zeal for
his Master overstepped itself, and earned for him the strongest
rebuke Jesus ever gave directly to one of his followers. Jesus had
predicted to his Apostles the fate which awaited him at Jerusalem,
and Peter had said, "Be it far from thee. Lord: this shall not be
unto thee;" when Jesus turned and said, "Get thee behind me,
Satan; thou art an offense unto me: for thou savorest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men."
Six days afterward, occurred the glorious incident of the
transfiguration, which Peter, James, and John were alone per-
mitted to witness. A little later Jesus and his immediate followers
went down into Judea, where the closing incidents in his eventful
life occurred. In connection with the life of Peter, we are most
interested in the events of the night preceding the cr ucifixion,
because they give us an insight into some of the peculiarities of
Peter's character. When the paschal supper had been prepared,
the twelve, with their Lord, sat down to the repast. Then occurred
the remarkable series of conversations, prophecies, prayers, and
exhortations, which cause the ante-mortem discourses of Socrates
to sink into insignificance. Among these was the prediction of the
Apostles' desertion of Jesus, against which Peter protested so
vehemently: "Though all men shall be offended because of thee,
yet will I never be offended." Messiah's answer was sadly prophetic:
LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 211
"Verily I say unto thee, this night, before the cock crow, thou
shalt deny me thrice." Again Peter, James and John were honored
with our Lord's close confidence, in being chosen to watch, lest he
should be disturbed during his prayer and suffering in the garden
of Gethsemane. That they should fall asleep at this critical
juncture, is scarcely to be wondered at, as it was long past mid-
night; nor do we wonder that Peter, stung no doubt by the gentle
rebuke, "What! could ye not watch with me one haur?" and
roused by the further remark, "Sleep on now; * * behold,
he is at hand that doth betray me;" should have impulsively drawn
his sword and attempted his Lord's defense. * Restrained from this,
he followed Jesus at a distance, was admitted into the hall of the
high priest's house, and there fulfilled the Master's sorrowful
prophecy, by his three-fold denial. This was a crisis in Peter's
life. The firmness inherent in his own nature was no longer
depended upon implicitly, but was reinforced by the strength
arising from the possession of the Spirit of God. Henceforth we
shall expect to find him foremost in apostolic works — one of the
first to run to the sepulchre after the resurrection, (John 20:
2-10) ; the first to leave his boat and net, and greet the risen Lord,
(John 21 : 4-11); the one to whom were given the keys of the king-
dom, and the injunction to feed the Master's sheep, (John 21 :
15-17) ; and the one to assert apostolic authority, direct the filling
up of the quorum of the twelve, and deliver the first gospel sermon
(Acts 1, 2). A sober, dignified firmness took the place of his
former hasty zeal; and with prudence, sagacity, and patient endur-
ance, he proceeded to the work of the ministry. Bonds had
henceforth no terrors for him. From denying his Lord before a
mere servant girl, he arose to a dignified acknowledgment of him
before an angry Sanhedrim, and a declaration of his determination
to continue preaching in Christ's name in spite of their prohibition.
The events of Peter's life during the apostolic age are full
of interest to us. Soon after the ascension of Christ, Peter called
the disciples together, to the number of 120, in an upper room and
after explaining to them the nature of Judas' fall, and the neces-
sity of choosing another to fill his place, he directed the balloting
by which Matthias was chosen to the apostleship. Ten days after
the ascension, on the day of Pentecost, the Jews having assembled
212 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
together from all parts of the civilized world, there occurred the
mighty endowment " with power from on high," the bestowal of
the Holy Ghost. Attracted by the great manifestations accom-
panying this event, the multitude came running together, and
manifested astonishment at the fact that the inspired ones spoke
in tongues which all the assembled nations understood. Roused by
the insinuation that this was a manifestation of drunkenness, Peter
bore a powerful testimony to the presence of the Spirt of God, and
''pricked the Jews to the heart" by his straightforward recital of
the death and divinity of Jesus. Then in response to their earnest
question, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" he preached the
gospel of repentance, baptism, and the laying on of hands, the
result being the conversion of three thousand souls.
The next event was the healing, by Peter and John, of the
lame man at the "beautiful gate" of the temple. It was his appear-
ance in the temple as the first herald of the Apostles' healing
power, and the testimony of Peter that this power came from
Christ, whom though ignorance the Jews had slain, that brought
upon the Apostles the active opposition of the priests. Following
close upon the miraculous death of Ananias and Sapphira, and the
fame spread abroad through other notable miracles, the Apostles
were seized by the high priest and his associates, and cast into the
common prison. Delivered thence by the angel of the Lord, they
went to the temple and taught the people. Brought before the
Sanhedrim, they, through Peter, their spokesman, boldly refused to
cease proclaiming Christ; but they were saved from bitter perse-
cution by the wise counsel of Gamaliel. (Acts 7: 34-42).
Mention should be made of the visit of Peter and John to
Samaria, to confer the Holy Ghost upon those who had been bap-
tized by Philip. The incident is interesting, not only because it
proves that the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood is required
to bestow the Holy Ghost, and that this is done by the laying on of
hands, but because of Peter's meeting with Simon Magus. This
sorcerer, attracted by the manifestations accompanying the minis-
trations of the Apostles, offered money to Peter, in order to buy
the wonderful power. Peter's rebuke established forever the
principle that the gifts of the gospel are free, and that any attempt
to turn them into a means of merchandise is most reprehensible.
LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 213
Tradition has it that Peter met and vanquished Simon Magus many
years later, in Rome, but authentic history gives no warrant to this
idea.
When Saul, afterwards called Paul, was converted, he reported
to Peter immediately on going from Damascus to Jerusalem,
(Galatians 1: 18), thus acknowledging Peter's primacy. It was not
long afterward that Peter made his memorable visit to Joppa,
where occurred the raising of Tabitha from the dead, the vision
demonstrating the worthiness of the Gentiles to be accounted
worthy of the gospel, and the visit immediately afterward, of the
messengers of Cornelius. The incident of the conversion of Corne-
lius is so important as to deserve more than a passing notice. It
was the opening of the door through which the gospel was carried
to the Gentiles.
Being a Jew, Peter had all the prejudices of his race against
the Gentiles. He considered them as not entitled to the blessings
of the gospel of Christ. The words of Jesus when he sent the
Apostles out to preach during his life-time, "Go not into the way
of the Gentiles," (Matt. 10: 5), seem to have impressed Peter more
strongly than the command given after Christ's resurrection — "Go
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,"
(Mark 16: 15). Therefore, it required a very strong manifestation
to convince him of the worthiness of the Gentiles to receive the
gospel. As he was praying on a house-top in Joppa, he became
hungry, and in his trance or vision he saw a sheet which came
down from heaven, filled with all kinds of animals, clean and
unclean. A voice came to him saying, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat."
In reply to his remonstrance against eating animals prohibited by
the law of Moses, he was told not to call that common or unclean
which the Lord had cleansed. This was twice repeated, and imme-
diately afterward the messengers of Cornelius came to him. Accom-
panying them to Csesarea, Peter fully understood the significance
of the vision, when he heard the testimony of Cornelius, and saw
the Holy Ghost poured out upon the Gentiles, as a sign of their
worthiness to receive the gospel. " Of a truth," said he, " I per-
ceive that God is no respector of persons; but in every nation he
that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with
him." And again, "Can any man forbid water, that these should
214 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? "
When Peter returned to Jerusalem, he had to face the charge,
"Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised and didst eat with them."
He answered it by relating the incident, with such earnestness
that his accusers exclaimed, " Then hath God also to the Gentiles
granted repentance unto life."
Peter continued to advocate the equal rights of Jews and
Gentiles who accepted the gospel, when, in a council at Jerusalem,
he advised that all Gentile converts should be exempt from circum-
cision, the decision of the council being to that effect. (Acts 15:
6-11). This was perfectly consistent with his action in the case
of Cornelius, at Csesarea. Only once did he seem even for a
moment, to depart from this consistent course; and we have only
an ex -parte statement of this event. It was when, in Antioch, he
withdrew from the Gentiles, with whom he had been living on
terms of closest intimacy. He withdrew from them, it is supposed,
through fear of the censure of the Jewish party, who seemed still
to be filled with the old prejudice against their Gentile brethren.
This apparent weakness aroused the indignation of Paul, who was
full of zeal and energy in the cause of the Gentiles, and he "with-
stood Peter to the face." Paul's opposition to Peter on this occa-
sion arose from a natural fear that Peter's lack of consistency
would do injury to the cause of the gospel, especially among the
Gentiles. The passage on which our knowledge of this incident is
based, occurs in Paul's letter to the Galatians, (2: 11-14).
This is the last event in the life of Peter positively known to us
from the New Testament. Many traditions exist regarding his later
life, and a few of these will be briefly stated, with the caution that
they must not be accepted as authoritative, though we have some
reasons for supposing them true. One of these traditions is to the
effect that he visited Babylon and lived there for some time, and
that his first epistle was written from that city to the Church at
large. The evidence for this is contained merely in the closing
words of this epistle. We have no other evidence that he ever was
in Babylon. Another tradition, of rather more doubtful authority,
states that he visited the regions of Asia Minor, and even some of
the northern coasts of the Black Sea, preaching to the Jews in
those places.
LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 215
But our chief interest lies in the tradition that toward the
close of his life Peter visited Rome, became bishop of the Church
in that city and suffered martyrdom there in the persecutions
raised by Nero, about 67 A. D. Regarding his visit to, and brief
residence in, the city of Rome, we have no great doubt; it is gen-
erally admitted that he spent the last few years of his life there.
It is just as freely admitted that in all probability he suffered
martyrdom there during the Neronian persecutions. But it is cer-
tain that he never was bishop of Rome.
The prophetic recital of his death as given by Jesus, is recorded
in John 21 : 18 : " But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch
forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee [on the cross], and
carry thee whither thou wouldest not." The tradition of his death
is most beautiful. Nero was committing the most shameful
atrocities against the saints in Rome; and his fiendish ingenuity
was almost exhausted in devising for them the most terrible forms
of death. They were crucified, torn by wild beasts, covered with
pitch and burned, and put to death in various other ways. Peter's
life was most precious to the Christians at Rome, and they per-
suaded him to flee for safety. As he passed the walls of the city,
he met the Lord, toiling toward Rome, with his cross on his back.
"Quo vadis, Domine?" (Whither goestthou, Lord?) he asked. "I
go to Rome, there to be crucified again," said Jesus. Peter fully
understood the significance of the remark; and instantly he turned
around, retraced his steps to the city, and suffered death on the cross.
An embellishment is added to the story in the statement that he
was crucified head downward, at his own request, since he consid-
ered himself unworthy to die as Jesus died. We scarcely feel like
accepting or rejecting this statement. Whatever the manner of
his death, however, we must suppose that he met it with the
devoted heroism and righteous zeal which characterized the whole
life of the " chief of the Apostles." At this supreme moment we
would look for anything rather than uncertainty or wavering.
The reader has no doubt gathered from these events in Peter's
life, a good estimate of his character. Therefore, by way of con-
clusion, merely a brief statement only of the main elements of his
character will be inserted here, from the writings of Dr. Hamilton:
216 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
"It would be hard to tell whether most of his fervor flowed through
the outlet of adoration or activity. His full heart put force and prompti-
tude into every movement. Is his Master encompassed by fierce ruffians? —
Peter's ardor flashes in his ready sword, and converts the Galilean boat-
man into the soldier instantaneous. Is there a rumor of a resurrection
from Joseph's tomb? — John's nimbler foot distances his older friend; but
Peter's eagerness outruns the serene love of John, and past the gazing
disciple he rushes breathless into the vacant sepulchre. Is the risen
Savior on the strand? — his comrades secure the net, and turn the vessel's
head for shore; but Peter plunges over the vessel's side, and struggling
through the waves, in his dripping coat falls down at his Master's feet.
Does Jesus say, ' Bring of the fish ye have caught ? ' — ere any one could
anticipate the word, Peter's brawny arm is lugging the weltering net
with its glittering spoil ashore, and every eager movement unwittingly
is answering beforehand the question of his Lord, 'Simon, lovest thou
me?' And that fervor is the best, which, like Peter's, and as occasion
requires, can ascend in ecstatic ascriptions of adoration and praise, or
follow Christ to prison and to death; which can concentrate itself on
feats of heroic devotion, or distribute itself in the affectionate assiduities
of a miscellaneous industry."
GOSPEL STUDIES.
I.
AN INWARD KINGDOM OF GOD NECESSARY TO SALVATION.
BY PROFESSOR N. L. NELSON.
There is in the Sunday School of the Brigham Young
Academy, a missionary class, composed of about one hundred
earnest young men, over whom it is my privilege and honor to pre-
side. Each year a large number of these students are called on
missions, and I invite them to write me for help whenever in their
ministry they get into theological difficulties. Accordingly a
bright young Elder now laboring in Atlanta, Georgia, presents me
a passage of scripture which he has found difficult to explain
satisfactorily. I have been trying for a month or two to find time
for reply; but the more I study it, the more I see that it is too
big a theme for a letter; and as it will no doubt be found of general
interest to preachers and teachers of the gospel, I beg space in
the Era for my answer.
The passage is found in Luke, seventeenth chapter, twentieth
and twenty-first verses, and reads as follows:
"And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the
kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said. The
kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they
say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is
within you."
The difficulty presented by the passage is this : our Elders
preach an outward kingdom (or Church) of God; a kingdom per-
fect in organization as the wisdom of heaven can make it; with
Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, Deacons, helps, govern-
ments, and so forth, making what is called by Paul the body
218 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
of Christ; and by many passages of scripture they maintain that
salvation is not to be found outside this organization.
Now, Christ's words to the Pharisees, as quoted above, seem
to contradict this attitude. Not only does he deny that the
kingdom ''cometh with observation," and that the kingdom is
something of which one could say, "Lo here it is," or "Lo there it
is," but he expressly affirms the contrary; viz., that the "kingdom
of God is within you."
It may be observed as a preliminary that to those who
might wish merely to stop the mouths of cavilers, it would per-
haps be sufficient to point out that the marginal reading of the
word "observation" is "outward show," and of the words "within
you," is "among you;" whence the passage would signify: "You
need not expect the kingdom of God to come, for it is already
among you;" which would therefore present no conflict with
passages maintaining the need of an outward kingdom. Such a
reply might often be the better way of meeting the objection,
especially when the objectors are shallow, bigoted, and word-
bound. Evasions of this kind are justifiable when the object is to
avoid "casting pearls before swine."
But for purposes of real spiritual enlightenment, the other
meaning should be maintained; viz., that "the kingdom of God
Cometh not with observation — * * * it is within you." I take
this ground for two reasons: 1. Because it is the meaning
which forms the warp and woof of modern spiritual thought; and
consequently if we expect to make any headway in correcting and
elevating thought, we must recognize in it what is consistent and
worthy of attention; and 2. Because the passage expresses
a most profound truth; a truth which it is quite as essential to
keep in view in these "last days" as it was during the "meridian
of time."
Before taking up the real meaning of these words, let us
consider why it was necessary for Christ to emphasize to the
Jews the absolute necessity of an inward or spiritual kingdom.
There are two ways of influencing mankind; an external and
an internal. The first proceeds on the assumption that "might
makes right," and moves men to do or to be, through fear. All
the unrighteous and unstable kingdoms of the earth have been
GOSPEL STUDIES. 219
founded on this principle; and it has ever been, and ever will be,
the cause of their unstableness and the occasion of their disinte-
gration. In the realm of faith we may count the Catholic and
Mohammedan religions as having attained their growth on this
principle ; and therefore, knowing the nature of the seed, we may
as confidently predict the death of the plant. The tendency to
act on the principle that "might makes right" is always present in
the degree that the Spirit of God is absent; and this is true of
individuals as well as of nations and peoples.
The idea had reached its greatest force and widest applica-
tion in the world to which Christ was born. Even God's chosen
people had not escaped its influence. The Jews could see only one
way to set up the kingdom of God. It must come, when it did
come, "with observation;" presenting a showy front, and accom-
panied with all the regalia of pomp and power; a kingdom that
should trample all other kingdoms in the dust, and elevate these
holy, "whited sepulchres" to thrones and dominions over the rest
of mankind.
Howsoever regarded within the little circle of man's horizon,
victories gained by external forces are from their very inception
always miserable defeats, from God's point of view; for nothing
counts as an advance with God save that which brings us nearer
to his perfection. Eternal life cannot be forced into man from
without; it must spring up from within. Each man's heart is the
center of the universe. It is the only place where salvation can
begin for him. Internal forces are such as stir up the soil and
plant the seed of truth in this center.
Internal influences proceed by reversing the Roman maxim,
just as they reverse the Roman method. "Right makes might,"
and nothing else than right can do it; at least, the might which
counts for eternity. This was the truth which our Savior pointed
out so sharply to the Pharisees. It is a truth which needs to be
pointed out with equal force and brevity to any organization in our
day, whether it be political party, social guild, church or state,
which depends upon mere external machinery for the betterment
of mankind.
Whatever lasting reforms come to this earth, come primarily
through that blind door, the human heart, and represent the silent
220 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
impress upon humanity of the infinite spirit of order and harmony.
The noisy demonstrations which immediately precede or accom-
pany such reforms, are merely the crest-play of the tidal wave;
let us never mistake them either for its cause or the true index of
its momentum.
God rules not as man rules. A nation or a people wakes up
after a night's sleep, and discovers that it has made a change of
front. Let us not be among those who ascribe such a miracle to
the head-lines of newspapers or the mouthings of orators. Let us
rather recognize that God's dominion is that mysterious "kingdom
within you;" that mysterious center whence light breaks which does
not come from the sun.
As to the real meaning of the expression "the kingdom of God
within you," it must be plain at a glance that the words are used
figuratively. Technically, we have here the figure of rhetoric
called metonymy, and specifically, it is the kind in which the effect
is named instead of the cause. The kingdom of God is plainly an
organization having a king, officers, subjects, etc. ; and as such,
could not literally be within anyone; but being an organization, it
may be regarded as the visible effect of some unseen spiritual
force. This force, whatever it be, is of a nature to dwell in the
soul. It is the principle of the kingdom, not the kingdom, which
Christ declares is within us. A little reflection will show that no
man can be in the kingdom of God unless the principle of this
kingdom be first in him. The kingdom is not therefore a matter
of outward show; it steals into men's hearts unseen, unheard, but
not unf elt.
The passage fully paraphrased might read as follows: "The
kingdom of God cometh not by external conquest. It is not like
an army of which you might say, 'Lo here,' or 'Lo there;' on the
contrary, the principle of cohesion which makes the kingdom of
God possible, must be born (i e. engendered) in each subject.
There can be no kingdom of God withow^ you, until there is a
kingdom of God withm you."
What then— precisely— does it mean to have the kingdom of
God within one? In other words, what is the divine principle of
cohesion above referred to? No writer has been able to tell
exactly what it is. The change involved in the human soul is so
GOSPEL STUDIES. 221
ethereal or transcendental that it defies the finest human vocabu-
lary. Christ felt the impossibility of conveying the idea in words,
when he said: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but whence it cometh, and whither it
goeth, no man knoweth. So is everyone that is born of the spirit."
And if Christ must resort to comparison to explain the mean-
ing of the "kingdom within you," can we expect better from his
disciples? "Being born again" and "being born of the spirit,"
were favorite ways of naming this change. Paul speaks of it as
"putting off the old and putting on the new," as "having Christ
formed within you," and as "passing from death unto life;" all of
which are graphic similes. We in our day, grown less poetical,
speak of the change simply as "a testimony of the gospel."
The most comprehensive word to convey the meaning is per-
haps faith, using the word in the sense of kindling the heavenly
hope within us. Far or near as these symbols may be from the
thing symbolized, no one who has felt the "change of heart," as
our sectarian friends put it, can ever be mistaken about it; and
those who have not felt it, cannot be made to realize adequately
what it is, even were all the metaphors in the language called into
requisition.
Be this as it may, it is plain that there can be no kingdom of
God "without," until there is first a kingdom of God "within." The
question between us and our sectarian friends is: "Granted that
the kingdom be formed within, what will happen? Will the man
or woman in whom this change takes place, seek to form or unite
with a kingdom of God that is without, or will he remain a silent
unit, self-centered and self-sufficient?" That is, to use the phrase-
ology of our friends, will he count it enough to "give his heart to
Jesus and rest idly secure in the arms of the blessed Redeemer?"
Or will he immediately seek to unite with others who have exper-
ienced the same change, and endeavor to establish an outward
kingdom?
This question brings me fairly to the theme of my next arti-
cle which will seek to demonstrate the proposition: "An outward
kingdom of God necessary to salvation."
THE PAST YEAR.
It was but yesterday the snow
Of thy dead sire was on the hill;
It was but yesterday the flow
Of thy spring showers increased the rill,
And made a thousand blossoms swell
To welcome summer's festival;
It was but yesterday I saw
Thy harvests wave their golden treasures,
And man, to Nature's genial law
Responsive, taste the season's pleasures; •
And now all these are of the past,
For this lone hour must be thy last!
Thou must depart! where, none may know —
The sun for thee hath ever set;
The star of morn, the silver bow
No more shall gem thy coronet
And give thee glory; but the sky
Shall shine on thy posterity.
Bright as it ever shone on thee;
While as a torrent they are pouring
On where forgetfulness will be
In ambush couched for their devouring.
Where now it waits thy latest sand
From destiny's unpitying hand.
In darkness — in eternal space,
Sightless as a sin-quenched star.
Thou Shalt pursue thy wandering race,
Receding into regions far;
On thee the eyes of mortal men
Shall never, never light again.
Memory alone may steal a glance.
Like some wild glimpse in sleep we're taking,
THE PAST YEAR. 223
Of a long perished countenance
We have forgotten when awaking —
Sad, evanescent, color'd weak,
As beauty on a dying cheek.
Whence flow the streams of ages? Where
Pass the perished things its surface bears —
The breathing life, the joy and care,
The good and evil of earth's years?
And were they made with thee to die —
Created — who can tell us why? —
As dewy flowers that bloom today,
Hallowing the summer air with sweetness,
Extinguished ere tomorrow's ray.
Leave but memorials of death's fleetness?
Man alone hopes in distant skies
To bloom mid some bright paradise.
I once had many pleasant gleams
Of thy prospective hours, and things
That turn'd out but delusive dreams,
Fading beneath thy restless wings;
And many unreckoned gift of thine,
I never thought could have been mine;
And many joys, and many pains,
At this thy dying hour departed.
And hopes I dare not count as gains.
And fears which made me coward-hearted.
That soon must be as they were not —
I, thou, and they, alike forgot!
Farewell! that cold regretful word
To one whom we have called a friend — •
Yet still "farewell!" I must record
The sign that marks our friendship's end,
Thou'rt on thy couch of wither'd leaves,
The surly blast thy breath receives;
In the stripped woods, I hear thy dirge,
Thy passing-bell the hinds are tolling.
Thy death-song sounds in ocean's surge,
Oblivion's clouds are round thee rolling —
Thou'lt buried be where buried lie
Years of the dead Eternity! Anon.
GIFTS OF THE GOSPEL.
BY JOHN H. DAVIS.
"Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye
may prophesy." — / Cor. 14: 1.
From my youth up I have desired that the Lord would bless
me with the gift of the spirit of prophecy. We should cultivate
the gifts of the gospel as they are given to us, and we should
acknowledge the hand of the Lord in such at all times and under
all conditions in life.
If I am permitted I shall be pleased to record here one of my
own experiences in relation to this grand gift.
In the year 1869 (spring time), in company with my father
and brother, while on our way from Willard, Box Elder County, to
Malad, Idaho, to look up a place of settlement where we could
obtain a farm, we were camping over night on that plat of prairie
just north of Hampton Bridge. During those days no one would
ever think of taking up such country for cultivation, as it was in
a most dried and hardened condition, yet, during early spring, more
or less grass would grow, and during such growth the country
round about appeared most beautiful. In the early morning, while
my brother, Thomas A. Davis (now of Oneida County, Idaho), was
preparing our breakfast, in company with my father I went in
search of the cattle. Soon we found them, and as we were in no
hurry to return to camp for a few minutes, we remained standing
together on a little raise of ground; and while thus enjoying the lovely
cool breeze that came down from Cache Valley through Bear River
Canyon— while thus viewing the surrounding country— all at once to
GIFTS OF THE GOSPEL. 225
me there came a change over the scene. I saw that vast country all
dotted with hamlets. Farms were squared off, as if by surveyed lines.
I saw it all in an instant, and I knew what it meant. I turned to
my father and said: "I am going to prophesy, and I want you to be
a witness to what I now tell you. This vast region of country will
yet be taken up by our people; homes will be made, here and
there, all over this land, and you will live to see that day. It will
come to pass just as I tell you, for I have seen it."
"Well, this is a remarkable prophecy," said my father, "and
we will remember it."
I was then in my fifteenth year, and, to the natural man, at
that early day, in such a dry country, such a statement appeared
very much out of place. My father passed away last April, in his
93rd year. My prediction has come to pass, wonderful as it was.
My father lived to see it fulfilled to the very letter.*
Lindsey, Jefferson County, Pa.
September 9, 1898.
* Note:— Anyone acquainted with the scene of this prophecy— the
Bear River Flats— and who can call to mind how desolate it was even
a very few years ago, and will compare it then with what it is today— an
extensive plain, dotted with growing villages, connected together by
extensive wheat farms and meadows of alfalfa— will be able to recognize
how remarkable this prophecy of a lad fifteen years of age was away
back in 1869, when nothing could have been more unlikely than the ful-
fillment of such a prediction. — Editors,
WINTER THOUGHTS.
WRITTEN FOR THE ERA.
The winds blow chill through groves of sighing pine]
The clouds go driving swiftly overhead;
The wild bird's note is hushed; the swaying vine,
Its vintage gathered, now hangs limp and dead.
The grass is brown and sear; the deep ravine
Which erstwhile boomed an angry, boiling flood
Scarce boasts the tiniest thread of trickling stream
And nature shows her drear and saddened mood.
The year has had its bud, its wealth of bloom,
Its gracious fruitage, and its swift decay—
What matter ! years and cycles onward roll.
Today melts silently in yesterday.
Today has done its work. Tomorrow comes.
Her hand holds golden Opportunity—
And underneath the snow the roots will dream
Of bud, and bloom, and fruitage yet to be.
And so with life. Bright promises of spring
Take themselves wings— alas ! and fly away.
Though hope and love may follow close behind,
Stern duty by our side points out the way.
Oh, Angel of the gifts, from memory take
The rankling bitterness of vain regret —
Of unavailing tears — the biting frosts
Of desolation help us to forget;
And spread the mantle, pure and white as snow
Of Charity to cover life's mistakes,
And let the root of Truth and Faith still grow
And promises of bloom and fruitage make.
So underneath the load of grief and care
. The years have brought, we seek the Source of Truth;
And know that God holds for us in his hand
That best of all the gifts, perennial youth.
Sarah E. Pearson.
EDITOR^S TABLE.
LIFE-INFLUENCING MAXIMS.
Our readers perhaps will remember that we promised in our
Prospectus to publish a symposium under the title ''Life-Influenc-
ing Maxims." It is expected, of course, that these will be con-
tributed by the officers and members of the associations, or any
others of our readers who may feel disposed to contribute to the
symposium.
In Volume I we published a " Symposium of Best' Thoughts."
The length of the contributions under that title was limited to one
hundred words. We are desirous that this second symposium
should partake very much of the same nature, and we hope there
will be a general response to this invitation. We appeal to the
officers of the associations and ask them to encourage the young
men to write the Era, telling us what text of scripture, what poem,
or what maxim of philosophy it is that had a deciding influence upon
their life, morally or spiritually.
It may not be possible always to confine the responses to this
invitation to one hundred words, because a poem, or passage of
scripture, or maxim of philosophy may itself exceed the one hundred
words, but as far as may be we desire to see the contributions kept
within the limit named above.
We take occasion to remind our readers, as stated in our
prospectus, that some one has said that "the world is governed by
phrases;" and so, too, are many lives: that is, at some particular
crisis of a young man's life, a text of scripture, a passage from the
228 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
poets, a maxim from the philosophers, or a word from a friend,
strikes upon his ear and becomes well-nigh the voice of God within
his soul, and marks, perhaps, the turning point in his life.
It is the collection of such maxims that have influenced the
lives of our young men which we desire to collect; and in order that
we may illustrate more perfectly what we mean we call attention
to the passage of scripture that had such a marked influence upon
the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It will be remembered what
mental struggles he endured in his early youth while contemplating
the divided state of Christendom, and the confusion of human
creeds which then as now very generally abounded. In the midst
of his mental distress and spiritual anxiety he came upon the pas-
sage recorded in the Epistle of James, the first chapter and fifth
verse, which reads: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of
God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it
shall be given him." " Never," said he, in speaking of this early
experience in later years — "Never did any passage of scripture
come with more power to the heart of any man than this did to
mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of
my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any
person needed wisdom from God I did; for how to act I did not
know, and unless I could get more wisdom from God than I than
had, would never know; for the teachers of religion of the differ-
ent sects understood the same passage so differently as to destroy
all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.
At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in
darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is,
ask of God."
We now all know the result. He enquired of the Lord and
received such an answer as resulted in the establishment of the
Church of Jesus Christ on the earth; began, in fact, that marvel-
ous religious revolution which will not be completed until the King-
dom of God shall come and his will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.
This is what we mean by life-influencing passages from the
scriptures, poets, or philosophers — something that changed the
course of events in the person's life; that brought him from dark-
ness into the light; that gave a soul to God; and we most earnestly
EDITOR'S TABLE. 229
ask that our young men will aid in making such a valuable col-
lection, t
ACTS OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCE IN MISSIONARY
EXPERIENCE.
We promised in our prospectus a collection of incidents
wherein the special providence of God had been manifested in the
experiences of our Elders engaged in the ministry. We desire to
call the attention of our readers as well as the officers of the asso-
ciations to the fact that we are dependent upon the Elders who
have had experience in missionary labors for this collection. We
therefore extend an invitation to all such Elders to write us one
or more, or half a dozen for that matter, of such experiences; that
is, incidents which have come within their own observation wherein
the special providence of God has been manifested in their own
preservation, or which contributed to the special success of their
missions. We know that the experiences of our Elders are replete
with circumstances of this character, and it will make the pages
of the Era faith-promoting if such accounts are published. We
desire that these experiences shall be those of recent years, in
order that we may keep before the minds of our youth the fact
that the power of God is as active today as in former years;
and that now, as then, God confirms the authority and ministry
of his servants by signs following them that believe.
We trust our brethren will not fail to forward us their con-
tributions for this collection of incidents. This kind of narrative
is the simplest form of composition, and we hope that our Elders
will very generally respond to the invitation to contribute their
experiences to this series of articles. Especial pains should be
taken to be explicit as to the time and place of the incident, and
the names of other parties involved in the circumstance should
be carefully given. Do not scrimp the story, tell it in full, but
expect us to exercise the privilege of editing the matter freely,
230 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
especially in the way of condensing by the elimination of phrases
or statements not necessary to the development of the main inci-
dent of the circumstance related.
We ask the officers of associations everywhere to interest
themselves in this matter, and call the attention of returned mis-
sionaries in their respective localities to this opportunity of making
known the goodness and power of God within their experience,
and thus assist in promoting faith in the minds of our youth.
We particularly invite the brethren now upon missions in all
parts of the world to contribute to this series of articles.
/
MODERN VALUE OF THE BIBLE.
By a great many people the Bible is supposed to be a
book of very little interest to the people of modern days except
as being in the minds of Christians something of a guide in mat-
ters of faith and morals. To think of looking through its pages
with a view to ascertaining anything of value on such subjects as
sanitation or hygiene would doubtless be considered altogether
out of order. Nevertheless it will be found that divine wisdom,
operating through inspired men, provided regulations which, if but
adhered to, would have saved our race from very much of evil, and
are worthy of consideration even in these modern days.
A friend of the Era's, one who has contributed to our pages,
and who is one of those delightful people sufficiently old-fashioned
to have a profound respect amounting to veneration for the Bible,
sent us, a few days ago, the following excerpt which he clipped
from the Youth's Companion. Accompanying it was a note in
which our friend said, "the enclosed slip seems to be worthy of a
place in the Era." And as we are of the same opinion, here it is:
The Asiatic Quarterly Review lately contained a collection of facts
to prove its contention that the sanitary laws of Moses were not only
EDITORS TABLE. 231
on a line with the modern rules of hygiene, but in some cases in advance
of them.
The Jew, thousands of years before Christ, settling in a semi-
tropical country, was forbidden to eat pork or shell-fish, and milk was
designated as a source of contagion. In the Talmud a method of slaugh-
tering animals was prescribed which is acknowledged today in our markets
as the most sanitary.
Five thousand years before Doctor Koch gave to the world the
results of his researches in bacteriology, the Mosiac law pointed out the
danger to man from tuberculosis in cattle, but did not forbid infected
poultry as food. It was only a few years ago that German specialists
discovered that fowl tuberculosis was harmless to man.
The Mosaic law also enforced the isolation of patients with contag-
ious diseases, and the burial of the dead outside of all cities. These
hints the slow Gentile world did not fully accept until a century or
two ago.
The wise law-giver prescribed not only fasting at certain periods
of the year, but the removal of whole families in summer out to camps,
where for a time they could live close to nature and to God, and rejoice
in both with innocent merrymaking. Many of the laws of Moses, like
this one, the Asiatic Quarterly urges, were prescriptions intended for the
health of both soul and body.
Now that some of our young people profess to regard the Old Testa-
ment as a book whose mission is fulfilled, a careful study of it might
cause them to change their opinion. Apart from its moral teachings,
its physical rules, if obeyed, would lessen the prevalence of some of the
diseases among us, especially those which result from exhausted nervous
systems.
The best teacher of duties that are dim to us is the practice of those
we see and have at hand.
The chief 'secret of success is nothing more than doing what you can
do well, without thought of fame. If fame comes at all, it will come
because it is deserved, not because it is sought after.
Nothing is gained by depreciating the difficulties of any undertaking.
To look them in the face courageously, and to 'estimate them fairly, will
generally enable us to overcome them; while, if they are hidden or
ignored, they will, all unconsciously to ourselves, bar the way to success.
OUR WORK,
GET MORE MANUALS.
Some of our M. I. A. missionaries report that in conducting the
course of study provided for in the M. I. A. manual for 1898 there is a
wonderful dearth of manuals. Many of the members of the associations
have failed to supply themselves with this necessary text book for our
work this year; for instance, it is said that in some cases in an enrolled
membership of sixty or seventy members, and an attendance of thirty
or forty or fifty, there will perhaps be only a dozen, or even less than a
dozen, members who have manuals ! That is a deplorable, not to say
ridiculous, condition. Men cannot work without tools, and members of
the associations cannot perform the work outlined by the General Board
for the associations this year without the manual. And when it is
remembered that the price of that text book is but twenty-five cents, it
is rather a reproach to our young men when they fail to supply them-
selves with it. The officers of the associations should take up this mat-
ter and urge our young men not only to purchase the manual but to
study it. The price is within the reach of all and there is no reason why
every member of the associations should not furnish himself with this
necessary text book.
To facilitate the matter of getting the manuals into the hands of
the members, we remind the presidents and other officers of the fact that
we are willing to send them any number of manuals that they think
their association will purchase, but said officers must become responsible
for the payment of the same. A large edition was published and we
shall be able to supply orders promptly from the Era office.
THE USE OP MISSIONARY ERAS.
A number of requests have come to the Bra office from our mis-
sionary Elders abroad, asking that copies of the Era published prior to
OUR WORK. 233
their being called to their fields of labor, be sent them; and at the same
time they express as the reason for this request that they desire to make
up the complete number in the volume in order to have it bound. This
clearly indicates that some of our missionary brethren do not under-
stand the purpose for which the Era is sent to them free.
First of all the purpose in sending it to them is that they may be
able to keep in touch with the spirit of the work of Mutual Improvement
going on at home; and second that they may have a magazine which
represents the trend of thought among the young people of the Church,
to circulate among the people where they are traveling, that it may aid
the missionary in his work of dispelling prejudice, and be the means of
both advocating and defending the gospel. It was not thought that the
Elders receiving these numbers should put them away carefully for bind-
ing, but that they would use them freely in loaning them in the neigh-
borhood where they travel. The Elders, on their return home, will find
abundance of opportunity to secure the complete volumes of the Era, as
in publishing our magazine we have made ample provisions for supplying
complete volumes and even separate numbers. So we ask our brethren
to take no thought about saving their magazines for binding, but use
them as missionaries for the spread of the gospel. Freely ye have
received, as freely give; and use our magazine as a herald of the Faith
as far as it is possible to do so.
MEMBERSHIP PERMANENT.
We have several times called attention to the fact that it was the
decision of the last annual conference that membership in the associa-
tion should be considered permanent; — by which we mean that once a
member of the association, always a member of the association, unless
a member should commit some act by which it would be necessary for
the association to withdraw its fellowship from him. Yet notwithstand-
ing this action of the General Conference, a record of which will be
found in the August number of the Era, we receive word occasionally
to the effect that some associations refuse to adopt in their practice this
regulation. Of course we come to the conclusion that it must be because
such associations have not yet learned of the action of the General Con-
ference; for certainly no president or other officer would be guilty of a
direct refusal to comply with a decision arrived at by the action of the
234 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
annual conference of the associations. In order therefore that all may-
be informed we once more allude to this matter, and publish herewith the
record of the action taken by the conference:
" On motion of Elder Fred Beesley it was decided that the names
of all parties enrolled should be continued on the roll, until removed by
proper action of the associations for cause.
"Apostle F. M. Lyman said the rolls should be kept as they are and
never diminished, unless some good reason could be shown, and then the
matter should be disposed of in a regular way and by the action of the
association, and a record of the action kept. Our business is to look
after those who are enrolled."
This action received the unanimous support of the officers of the
associations in conference. It must therefore be the settled policy of
the associations, and we ask them to conform to it. Let the enrollment
of membership be kept permanently; and if any who have become mem-
bers of the associations become indifferent to the work, the fact that
their names are enrolled and that they are accounted members of the
association gives the officers the right to call upon them and labor with
them to awaken an interest in them for the work of Mutual Improve-
ment. It may be true that we shall not always be able to get all the
enrolled membership into active co-operation with us, but we shall get
more of our young men into active work by retaining their names on
the rolls and working with them from time to time, as above described,
than if we failed to regard the membership as permanent.
One of the disadvantages under which Improvement Associations
have had to operate has been the notion that has obtained in some quar-
ters, that the society is dissolved with the adjournment in the early-
spring, and that it has no existence until reorganized in the fall or early
winter. We desire that this impression should be obliterated. Our
associations are permanent institutions, and the discontinuance of meet-
ings in the spring is but an adjournment of the association which still
continues its existence. If this latter idea prevails it will increase the
prestige of our organization and do away with very much of the diffi-
culty connected with our work. It is asked, however, if the entire
enrollment of membership shall be called at every meeting; and it is
urged as an objection that so many are away from their homes or absent
through indifference that the roll call of the entire membership becomes
burdensome, especially when so many are not present to answer. So
far as that is concerned, the associations can make their own arrange-
ments. A temporary roll for use in the meetings could be drawn up by
the secretary if thought desirable; and that temporary roll be increased,
of course, as members come in; but in addition to that, the regular enroll-
OUR WORK. 235
ment of members should be carefully preserved, and the officers should
see to it that no young man is lost sight of. If some become indifferent
to the work a labor should be taken up with them and the very best
effort made to draw them into active membership and association work.
In the case of not succeeding the first time "then another effort and still
another one should be made until success is obtained.
We call our missionaries' attention to this matter and ask them
wherever they find associations who are not carrying out the expressed
wish of the last General Conference in this particular, that they take up
a labor with the association officers and insist that the policy of consid-
ering membership in the society as permanent be adopted.
EVENTS OF THE MONTR
BY THOMAS HULL, SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL BOARD OF Y. M. M. L A.
November 21st, 1898: Governor Wells appoints Richard W. Young
to be major of the First Battalion of light artillery volunteers, and pro-
motes E. A. Wedgwood to be captain of Battery A, John F. Critchlow to be
first lieutenant of Battery B, and George A. Seaman to be second lieu-
tenant of Battery B. Major Young's commission will bear date of July
12th by authority of the war department. * * * -phe American
peace commission presents an ultimatum to the Spanish commission, offer-
ing $20,000,000 for the Philippines. Spain is given one week to answer.
23rd: By an explosion of a powder mill at Lamotte, Missouri, six
men are killed and several wounded. * * * j^ fij-g which started in
the east end of the building totally destroyed the Baldwin Hotel and
theatre at San Francisco. * * * General Blanco resigns as captain-
general of Cuba and his resignation is accepted by the Spanish govern-
ment.
24th: At the Thanksgiving banquet in London, England, all. the
. speeches were expressive of British friendship for the United States and
referred to an Anglo-American alliance.
26th: Ex-Queen Liliuokalani visits Salt Lake City. * * * The new
battleship "Wisconsin" was successfully launched at the Union Iron Works>
San Francisco, this morning.
27th: Charles W. Couldock, the venerable actor, once so well known
in Utah, dies in New York City. * * * ^ severe storm rages on the
eastern coast and New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New Eng-
land are snowbound. Many lives are lost. The steamer Portland from
Boston is wrecked off High Head, Massachusetts, and over one hundred
lives are lost. * * * Spain decides to accept the American offer of
$20,000,000 for the Philippines.
30th: The sixth annual convention of the Municipal League opens
in Indianapolis, Indiana.
EVENTS OF THE MONTH. 231
December 1st: Mrs. Sarah M. Kimball, for many years prominently
connected with the Relief Societies of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, dies at her home in Salt Lake City. * * * The
grand jury at Carlinville, Illinois, reports an indictment against Governor
John R. Tanner, of Illinois, for "palpable evasion of duty and malfeasance
in office," in connection with the coal miners' strike at Virden, Illinois.
4th: A great block of buildings is destroyed by fire in New York.
The loss is over $1,000,000. * * * A violent storm sweeps over the
Middle and Central-Eastern States and great damage results.
5th: The closing session of the fifty-fifth Congress opens and the
President's message is presented. The message in opening refers to the
prosperity of the country, the immense volume of business, the increased
treasury receipts, the advanced credit of the nation and the maintenance
of its currency at what is termed "the world's highest standard." The
President then proceeds to the discussion of the following subjects:
The Spanish PFar— Reviewing, at great length, the events leading up
to it and the course of the struggle, praising the army and navy and the
work of the Red Cross Society, and recounting the various steps in the
peace negotiations.
Agreement as to Cable Messa^res— Expressing his sense of the fitness of
an international agreement whereby the interchange of messages may be
regulated on a fair basis of uniformity.
International Expositions— Exi^ressmg approval of the proposition
for a standing appropriation for the acceptance of invitations to the
United States to participate in such expositions.
The Nicaraguan CanaZ— Calling attention to the urgency of definite
action by Congress at this session and the indispensability of the con-
struction of this maritime highway.
Events in C/ima— Reviewing the course of recent events there, urg-
ing the consideration by Congress of the recommendation of the Secretary
of the Treasury, made to the House of Representatives on the 14th of
last June, for an appropriation for a commission to study the commercial
and industrial conditions of the Chinese Empire and report as to the
opportunities for, and obstacles to. the enlargement of markets in China
for the products of the United States; and informing Congress that
ample precautions had been taken for the protection of the rights of
American citizens in China.
TAe Pansian Exposition— Expressing the belief that the report of
the American Director-General will call for an increase of the appropria-
tion to at least $1,000,000 and urging that it is our province to lead in
238 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
the march of human progress and not rest content with any secondary-
place.
Our Relations with Great Britain — Referring to the tact and zeal
with which the task of protecting Americans and their interests in Span-
ish jurisdiction was performed by diplomatic and consular representa-
tives of Great Britain.
Territory of Hawaii — Reporting the action taken in regard thereto
after the passage of the resolution of Congress providing for the annex-
ation.
Russian Relations — Reporting that the Russian mission in this
country and the American mission in Russia had been raised to the rank
of Embassies; referring to the invitation of the Czar to this nation to
send representatives to an international conference to consider a general
reduction of the vast military establishments of the nations in time of
peace, and stating that the Czar had been informed of the sympathy of
this government with the principle involved in his proposal.
Private Property at Sea — Suggesting that the Executive be author-
ized to correspond with the governments of principal maritime powers,
with a view of incorporating into the permanent law of civilized nations
the principle of the exemption of all private property at sea, not con-
traband of war, from capture or destruction by belligerent powers.
The Treasury Bureau — Reviewing the condition of the finances of
the United States, urging the importance of legislation for the mainte-
nance of the present monetary standard and recommending the forma-
tion of a gold trust fund from which greenbacks should be redeemed
upon presentation, but when once redeemed, should not thereafter be
paid out except for gold.
The Army and Navy — Recommending that authority be given the
President to increase the army to 100,000 men; and approving the
recommendations of the Secretary of the Navy, that the navy be increased
by the construction of fifteen new vessels of various classes. The mes-
sage also recommended that the grades of Admiral and Vice-Admiral be
temporarily revived.
The President recommends an appropriation and appointment of a
joint congressional committee for the celebration of the centennial
anniversary of the founding of Washington for the permanent capital
of the United States, and concludes his message as follows:
"The alien contract law is shown by experience to need some amend-
ment; a measure providing better protection for seamen is proposed; the
rightful application of the eight-hour law for the benefit of labor and
of the principles of arbitration, are suggested for consideration, and I
commend these subjects to the careful consideration of the Congress.''
EVENTS OF THE MONTH, 239
Under the same date Secretary of the Treasury, Gage, submits
his estimates of expenditures for the fiscal year, ending June 30th, 1899,
which call for $593,048,378.
8th: Central Utah is visited by a severe east wind.
10th: The treaty of peace between the United States and Spain is
signed at 8:45 p. m. * * * Colonel Willard Young raises the Ameri-
can flag over the city hall of Marianao, Cuba.
11th: General Calixto Garcia, the Cuban patriot, dies of pneumonia,
at Washington, D. C.
13th: President McKinley and party leave Washington to attend
the peace jubilee at Atlanta, Georgia. * * * The funeral of General
Garcia occurs at Washington, D. C. * * * Four war ships are
ordered to Havana.
14th: President McKinley arrives in Atlanta, Georgia, and is given
an enthusiastic welcome.
15th: President Lorenzo Snow issues an announcement stating the
decision of the authorities of the Church to issue $500,000 worth of bonds,
and suggesting that residents of Utah should purchase them. * * *
The house of representatives passes the pension bill in twenty minutes,
surpassing all previous records in the short time and lack of debate.
* * * Senator Calvin S. Brice, former United States Senator from
Ohio, dies of pneumonia, in New York City.
16th: Five regiments of regular infantry are ordered to prepare
for service in the Philippines.
17th: Major-General Wesley Merritt, the late commander of the
United States military forces in the Philippines, arrives in New York,
from Paris.
SEE THE MIGHTY ANGEL FLYING-
[Quartette-]*
Arranged by Evan Stephens.
r 1 r^ r> — , m • • ^^ »
-zN-
the mighty an - gel fly
0 hear, the pro - cla - ma
m
ing, See, he
tion! Cease from
m
-^Tit:^«-z:zi«^Ci=i|= --0
i
3 0 — I 1 — "I 1 I N; _ Kn
\ ' —I-- c_#-! — a > -J
speeds his way to earth,
van - i - ty and strife,
To fproclaim the blessed
Hasten to receive the
^^1^^= — I 1 J 1-, — \^-^^^^^ — , 5 R — a —
'^¥-Y—\ iE=t: — r-E_^=£LzFb .— ^^z^— ^— fcni^
ram ..^. i^ - _- •*• • ^ | i.
S5^-
f'
5^3
gos
gos
mtf.
pel,,
pel,
And
And
[restore
0 - bey
the
the
ztt'r.
M
an - cient
words of
ztz^izztz
faith,
life.
And restore,
And o-bey,
and restore the an - cient faith,
and o-bey the words of life.
-4 ^^,-^ ^^-^
•The words of the song are from the Latter-day Saints' Hymn Book, page 114, and
were written by R. B. Thompson. The music and arrangement is by Evan Stephens,
and was composed and presented by Brother Stephens to his friend Eldtr George D.
Pyper when the latter started on his mission through the Eastern cities of the United
States, in 1896.
Geo. Q. Gannon & Sons Go.
LEADING
^ BOOK ^
CONCERN
OF THE STATE
Ip^AVE lately added to their establishment a large and WELL
APPOINTED BOOK STORE, where will be found an immense
and well selected stock of Miscellaneous Books, Dolls, Toys, Games,
Holiday Novelties, etc., direct from the Publishers and Manufacturers.
We carry all the School Text Books, Bibles, Church and Sunday
School Publications. Latest genuine Oxford and Bagster S. S. Teach-
ers' Bibles, for ^1.00 and up, postpaid. Canon Farrer's "Life of Christ"
at 50c and 75c. "Prince of the House of David," at 25c and 50c.
TSslfs
SEND FOB ODR HOllDAY CATAIOGOE JHD PRICE LIST.
Geo. Q. Gannon & Sons Go.
11 & 13 MAIN STREET, ■ - SALT LAKE CITY,
(when writing to advertisers mention the era.)
She is filter the Coin
With which to buy a can oi
Saltair Baking Powder. Na-
ture's product. For sale by all
grocers, and manufactured by
Saltair BaMng Powder Co. , m m. cm.
Saponifiet^
Pennsylvania Saponifler Is the original and
old reliable Concentrated Lye for family
soap making and general household uses.
Beware of counterfeits. The success of this
article has induced unprincipled parties to
imitate it None genuine unless Pennsylva-
nia Salt Manufacturing Co., Philadelphia, Is
stamped on the lid. Ask your grocer for it
and take no other
Pennsylvaiiia Salt Manufactnring Co.,
PHII-KDBLPHIK.
EITHER WILL PLEASE HER,
AS BOTH THE
remlum Cbocolate
(Blue Label)
AND
WHICH HAND?
BEST COCOA
ARE MANUFACTURED BY
^'W. H. BAKER,
19S West Broadway,
> NEW YORK CITY.
Quality Guaranteed,
(when (WRITING TO ADVERTISERS MENTIOK THE ERA.)
F. A.UERBACH & BRO.
LAHGEST and ROST POPUIiAH (Uholesale and Hetall Dry Goods Hoase Id Utah.
GRfl^D OPEHIHG SAIiE
FALL AND WINTER GOODS.
Our expectations of doing the Largest Fall
Business of any season, are reflected in the un-
paralleled preparations we have made. Not a
meritorious novelty, nor a desirable staple has
been overlooked in our determination to make for
our patrons the greatest buying opportunities
ever known here. ^ ^ J' J> ^ J> J>
BDTTERICK'S PATTERNS. winter catalogue.
Oregon §tiort Line Railroafl*
Operating 1421 Miles of Railroad through
the Thriving States of
UTAH, IDAHO, WYOMING, OREGON and MONTANA.
THE ONLY ROAD
To BDTTE, HELENA, PORTLAND, and the NORTH PACIFIC COAST.
Four Daily Trains between SALT LAKE CITY and OGDE3N. The POPULAR
LINE to all Utah Mining Districts. The Only Road to MERCUR.
The Fastest Service to All Points East.
BUY YOUR TICKETS VIA THE "SHORT LINE," UTAH'S
FAVORITE RAILROAD.
City Ticket Office, No. 100 West Second South St., Salt La/ce City.
S. W. ECCLES, General Traffic Manager. D. E. BURLEY, Gen. Pass, and Ticket Agt.
VI. H. BANCROFT, Vice-Prest and General Manager.
(WHBN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS MENTIOX THE BRA.)
WEBER WflGOliS
BOB SLEDS
KING OF ALL.
STODDAHO jyiFG. GO.
Tiger Rakes
The old reliable. More in use
than total of other kinds.
Havana Drills
Insure even growth, and use one
third less seed and raise one third
larger crops.
Beck Hay Loaders
Save time and hay. Strongest
made. Will elevate from swath,
wind row, or cocks.
6o-OD6rat)lv6 Waoon & Macnine 60.,
EXCLUSIVE AGENTS IN UTAH AND IDAHO FOR ABOVE LINES.
We Horn IWakc YOU
IJClholesale Pmces
On anything you want in the line of Guns, Ammunition, Fishing
Tackle, Pistols, Baseball Goods, Boxing Gloves, Athletic
Goods, Tents, in fact all kinds of Shooting, Fishing, Camping
and Sporting Goods.
Our new catalogue is out and it contains the most complete line at prices
that will astonish you— WHOLESALE PRICES. It is Free to all. We also
have the agency for six different makes Bicycles C about eighty different kinds) and
will be pleased to send catalogue of any of them and make prices.
BROTHERS OO.,
2461 Washington Ave.,
BROifliNING
155 Main St.,
Salt Lake City. Ogden, Utah.
(when writing to advertisers mention the era.)
SAliT liRKE SGIlOOlt Of liftW,
^ 513, 514 The Templeton, ^
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.
A A A fc
BOARD OF REGENTS:
Joseph Whiteley. M. A., President; Hon. Heber M. Wells. Governor; Dr. J. R. Park.
Hon. Moses Thatcher. Frank Pierce. Esq., Hon. W. H. Kxng, Hon. E.
A. Wilson, Prof. G. R. Mathews, M. A.. Prof. J. B. Toronto.
FACULTY OF LAW AND LECTURERS:
Joseph Whiteley, M. A., President, Hon. Le Grande Young. Hon. W. H. King Frank
Pierce. Esq., Hon. E. A. Wilson. P. J. Daly. Esq.. George Sutherland. Esq..
E B. Critchlow, Esq.. T. E. Brown. Esq., John M. Zane, Esq.,
Geo. P. Costigan. Jr.. Esq.. Oscar W. Moyle. Esq.
A. C. Morris, Esq., Secretary.
Q 6 V w
Second Annual Announcement.
J. jt Fall Term Opens September 5th, 1898- J* -^
For Further Particulars Address President,
Professor Whiteley^ M* A*^
The Tcmpleton, Salt Lake Gty, Utah.
COVER.)
(WHEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS MENTION THE ERA.)
Salt Lake School of Law,
COUt^SES Op STODV.
1. Preparatory Course, (one year) embracing Greek, Latin,
English Grammar, Literature, Psychology, Composition, History, Civil
Government, Elementary Law, Political Geography, and Oratory.
2. College Course, (two years), first year embracing Blackstone
and Kent's Commentaries, or Walker's American Law, Real Property,
Contracts, Criminal Law, Torts, Domestic Relations, Common Law,
Pleading, and Moot Courts.
Second Year — Jurisprudence, Code Pleading, Bailments, Corpora-
tions, Evidence, Legal Remedies, Wills and Administration, Study of
Forensic Orators and Oratory.
3. A Political Science Course, embracing History of Civilization,
The Comparative Study of Modern States, Economics, Sociology, Gen-
eral Civics and Oratory. This course is intended for such students as
may wish to qualify themselves for Legislative work and public offices
generally.
To meet the conditions of students who are engaged in law and
other offices during the day, Evening Classes will be held in all the
courses; also provision will h °- made for non-resident work through
correspondence.
The chief purpose of the School is to prepare students for admis-
sion to the Utah Bar; also, where desired, to prepare for admission to
the University Law School of Harvard, Columbia, or Michigan.
The Political Science Course will be found to be specially help-
ful to young gentlemen who wish to continue their general and higher
Culture.
"Law schools are now a necessity." — Late Chief Justice Waite.
For Terms and Further Particulars Apply to:
PROFESSOR J. WHITELEY,
The Templeton, Salt Lake City, Utah.
(when writing to advertisers mention the era.)
HEBER J. GRANT & CO., Agts.
The Hartford
Fire Insurance
COMPANY,
Klartford., Conn.
Assets, Jan. i,
1898,
-
$10,898 629
Net Surplus,
over
all
liabilities
-
-
4.249.725
North British
and Mercantile
INSVF2PCNCE OO.
(United States Branch.)
Assets, Jan. I, 1898, - $4,280,505
Net Surplus, over all
liabilities, - - 2,103,877
The combined fire and life assets
of the North British and Mercantile
are over $65,000,000.
German
American
INS\-^RK1S[CE CO.
NEW YORK.
Assets, Jan. i, 1898, - $7,834,699
Net Surplus, over all
liabilities, - - 3.678,999
Pennsylvania
Fire Insurance
C07UIF»MNV,
Assets, Jan. I, 1898, - $5,100,286
Net Surplus, over all
liabilities - - 2,197,726
HEBER J. GRANT & CO., Agts.
WHEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS MENTION THE ERA.)
iMik Walter fl. wood
FARM AND FREIGHT
WAGONS
Sold exclusively by the
Co-operative Wagon &
Machine Co., in Utah
and Idaho.
Minnie Harvesters and Bind-
ers, Tubular Steel Mowers
and Minnie Hay Rakes. The
Wood's line was sold in Utah
earlier than any other mach-
ines. The volume of trade
has steadily increased and
prospects for 1898 are that all
previous records will be ex-
celled.
Sold only by the Co-oper-
ative Wagon & Machine Co.,
in Utah and Idaho.
A Celebrated Case. jhg q^^^. l^j^^
M^
There is only one Threshing
outfit made that gives Entire
Satisfaction.
During 1897 there were sold
in Utah and Idaho 60 outfits,
all manufactured by
^/m
J. I. CASE T. M. CO.,
''^^Racine, Wis.
STEEL PLOWS
HARROWS
. . Is Made by . .
JOHN DEERE & CO.,
MOLINE, ILL.
GO-OPEHflTIVE mm & IttflGHlJlE GO.,
O^ EXCLUSIVE AGBNTS IN UTAH AND IDAHO FOR ALL ABOVE LINE$. K^
HEBER J. GRANT, President.
JOSEPH F. SniTH, Vice=Prest.
CEO. T. ODELL,
General Manager.
(when writing to advertisers mention The era
M. D. WELLS,
Secretary and Treasurer..
MARTIN WAGNER CO.,
paokb^rs ok Baltimore, Nld..,
OYSTERS,
pt^XJlTS 8t
KX THB SIGN
OF THE
DOO'S HEKD
LOOK FOR THE HIGHEST
PEFECTION IN CANNED GOODS.
DOG'S HEAD
VEGETABliES.
M. i€'f lii
Wml^m
CORN
PEAS
PEARS
APPLES
PUMPKIN
PEACHES
OYSTERS
TOMATOES
PINEAPPLE
LIMA BEANS
STRING BEANS
BLUE BERRIES
STRAW BERRIES
BLACK BERRIES
SWEET POTATOES.
BRAND
T-jOSTON
t)
AKED I The Highest Achievement in Canned Goods.
KANS )
OPEN ALWAYS.
141 S. NIAIN STREET.
VIENNA CAFE,
V. E. Manca, a. R. Manca, Props.
Short Orders Cooked as *.'/ Ladies' Grill Room in Connection
you want them.
^
Salt Lake City, Utah.
WERNICKE BOOK CASES.
LIBRARY GLOBBS.
c. F=5. :w:eber st co..
School, Church, and Opera House Furniture, School Supplies.
Telephone 489-4.
B. A. McMILLEN, Mgr,
77 TIT. First South Street,
SAIjT LiA.KE CITV, UTAH,
BIND YOUR ERA
(363
We Bind in Neat Cloth
Cover for 50 Cents ....
Send in Volume L while you have all the Numbers Complete.
IMPROVEMENT ERA,
214 Templeton, Salt Lake City.
(WHEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS MENTION THB ERA.)
gggggggggggs^
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THIRXV
Years ago— in October 1868— ZION'S CO-OPERATIVE MER-
CANTILE INSTITUTION was organized to do a General ""
Merchandise Business. During each and every one of these
VEARS
C.
the Institution has observed closely the policy indicated by
Pres. Brigham Young at the time of organization, viz: to secure
good goods, and sell them as low as possible. This method
OF^
M.
dividing profits with the people, by furnishing them the best
classes of merchandise at the lowest possible figures, has proved
a policy for success which will continue to control. In this
AGE
I.
of close competition Z. C. M. I. maintains the lead of all com-
petitors in the west, in having the latest and choicest goods of
all kinds at the very Lowest Prices. Our Patrons, as wise
buyers, realize this.
T. G. WEBBER, Saperintendent.
=:5?=5#'=='#=='5J?==
SWIFT'S
\ ^ ^
SILVER LEAF LARD,
WINCHESTER HAMS and
WINCHESTER BREAKFAST BACON
ARE
flBSOIiUTEliV
The Finest on the Market.
For Sale at Every First Class Grocery. ^ J> ^ ^
s:ftiss:fissafi:ss^s:;:fissg^!s:sf!issi^saa^:gs:^^
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